I Hate You, I Love You
by Gravity-Chan
Summary: Natsu Dragneel isn't exactly the easiest to get along with. He's a slob, acts like a wannabe gang member, and is just plain rude. So it makes sense that Lucy Heartfilia, bookworm with a hidden fiery side to her, would want to make poor Natsu's life miserable. Oh dear, let's hope everyone survives!
1. First Encounters and Bad Conversations

**Chapter One of my newest Fanfic, I Hate You, I Love You. Hope you guys enjoy! Warning, there will be a lot of seemingly pointless conversation in this chapter, but I promise, it really does have a point! Just bear with me. Thanks!**

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Lucy lifted her head from her novel as the bell of her first period English class rang, signaling the end of the class period. she sighed, almost sadly, and started at her book longingly, dog-earing the page she was on for later and closing the cover. All around her, her classmates bustled to get out of the classroom as quickly as possible. Lucy stood up reluctantly and gathered up her books, setting her novel on top. Hopefully second period would offer some reading opportunities as well.

Lucy was the last out of the classroom and was met by her best friend, Levy McGarden, who tapped her foot impatiently, her arms folded.

"Finally!" she sighed as Lucy emerged from her class. "I almost left without you." there was humor behind Levy's eyes, though, and Lucy could tell she was only kidding.

Lucy rolled her eyes and began walking down the hallway towards her second period class, History of Magnolia, which she shared with Levy. Magnolia had a very long and very boring history, so Lucy was glad to have a friend there to keep her sane.

"You wouldn't dare," Lucy replied with a smirk, elbowing Levy playfully.

"You know I would!" Levy answered with an equally large smirk. "You're like a snail, you're so slow!"

Lucy's smirk broadened. "Yeah? Well you're like a midget, you're so short," she retorted, knowing how much Levy disliked comments on her height. That was why I found it hilarious that she was dating seven-foot-tall Gajeel Redfox.

"I'm not that short!" Levy argued with a cute pout. "I'm just a few inches under the average."

Lucy laughed at her friend's attempt at an explanation and walked into the classroom. The first thing she noticed was the pink-haired boy sitting in the back of the room. His Magnolia High school uniform was definitely not up to code; his black jacket was unbuttoned and his white shirt was halfway there, his red tie was not tied and hung around his shoulders, and his whole uniform was a patchwork of unidentifiable stains. Was that horseradish on his jacket? Lucy couldn't tell, but she wasn't about to ask and find out. She plopped down in her seat and Levy sat down next to her.

Lucy scowled and leaned towards Levy. "Why can't Natsu Dragneel ever wear his uniform correctly? Food stains, pink hair, it's like he's a wannabe gang member."

Levy giggled and shrugged. "I heard his parents are a little strange. His step-sister Wendy is an angel, though."

Lucy just snorted contemptuously and shook her head, sitting down in my assigned seat. Luckily Levy's assigned seat was next to hers. How that happened was a stroke of good luck. Levy leaned over towards her and lowered her voice to a whisper. "I heard he has a crush on Lisanna Strauss," she added with a malicious look in her eyes.

Lucy had to cover her mouth to stifle her laughter. Lisanna was the exact opposite of any girl that may want to date Natsu. "I doubt he's actually interested," she said. "Natsu's dated every girl in school at least once and probably slept with half of them."

Levy shrugged. "Well, I can't say I blame him. Magnolia High has some pretty sexy ladies in it," she said, glancing at Lucy comically.

Lucy reached across the gap between their seats and shoved Levy, grinning. "Oh, shut up," she replied.

Levy giggled and winked at Lucy, then glanced back at Natsu. The pink-haired boy was busy palling around with Gray Fullbuster, well-known Magnolia High athlete. "You know, he's not bad looking," she teased.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "What are you doing, trying to play matchmaker?" she said, though her cheeks flushed pink at the comment. Sure, Natsu was attractive, but he was not someone Lucy wanted to date.

Levy giggled again and leaned back in her chair. Oh, how she loved to tease Lucy. "Well, you have to admit, he'd make a good one night stand."

"Levy!"

Levy started laughing her head off while Lucy glared at her best friend, burning daggers into her skin. "That's not funny," she snapped, pouting and crossing her arms.

"What's not funny?"

Lucy jumped as she felt a hand on her shoulder and her head snapped up to see none other than Natsu Dragneel leaning over her, peering down at her curiously.

Lucy gawked slightly. How long had it been since Natsu had last spoken to her voluntarily? Probably never. "That's classified information," she replied, crossing her arms and frowning disapprovingly. "Not to be dispersed to eavesdroppers."

Natsu frowned slightly at the comment. "I wasn't eavesdropping, I was trying to make sure you two didn't kill each other," he replied, jerking a thumb at Levy, who glared at him indignantly.

"Lucy and I were not fighting," she said, lifting her chin defiantly. "We were having a heated conversation."

"'Bout what?" Natsu asked. His hand was still on Lucy's shoulder. Lucy wasn't sure if she liked it there. Her frowned deepened.

"None of your business," Levy replied coldly. "Now if you'd kindly return to your seat, we're here to learn, not chatter like squirrels."

Natsu rolled his eyes and mumbled something about hypocrites under his breath, but did as Levy told him and plopped down in his seat, looking rather cross.

Lucy watched him for a moment, then sighed and turned to levy. "Drama queen," she murmured. Levy giggled in response.

"Definitely not worth Lisanna's time," she agreed, leaning her elbow on her desk and placing her head in her upturned palm. "But maybe we can hook him up with someone else? Evergreen, maybe?"

Lucy laughed. "Yeah, sure, we may as well plan his funeral at the same time. There's no way he'd go for her, or vice versa. Besides, she's got her eyes on Lisanna's brother, Elfman Strauss."

"Oh yeah, forgot about that," Levy answered, frowning thoughtfully.

Lucy sighed. "What's with the matchmaker attitude? You've been like this since you and Gajeel hooked up." She gazed at Levy questioningly, arching an eyebrow for emphasis.

Levy shrugged. "Don't you want a boyfriend?" she replied. I hated when she answered my questions with more questions.

"No," I replied. "Not unless he dresses decently, has good manners, and acts like a gentleman. And he has to be cute." Licy went down her checklist of favorable traits. "No pink hair." she wrinkled her nose.

Levy rolled her eyes. "Oh, Lucy, if you act that way, you'll be single forever!" she scolded. "It's not like Prince Charming is going to knock on your door like in Enchanted. That kind of stuff never happens in real life."

"Well, what about you?" Lucy retorted. "Bad attitude and fifteen piercings not good enough?" she smirked, knowing quite well Gajeel Redfox's reputation.

Levy turned up her nose at Lucy and crossed her arms. "He's actually really sweet when you know him as well as I do," she replied.

Lucy's smirk widened. "So that's why he calls you 'pipsqueak' in the halls! I never figured that out!" her voice was laced with sarcasm.

"Be quiet!"

Lucy giggled and covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh, don't take it so seriously," she said when she noticed Levy's somewhat hurt expression. "I'm only teasing. You and Gajeel make a cute couple."

"Now I just have to find you a boyfriend," Levy said, perking up slightly. "Maybe Natsu's friend, Gray Fullbuster? He's cute, and he wears his uniform right. I know how much of a perfectionist you are."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Gray is just as bad as Natsu is," she replied. "And I told you, I don't want a boyfriend. I'm perfectly fine being single. I don't need a guy following me around to make me feel good or whatever they're for." she leaned on her desk.

Levy pouted. "Why are you so against romance?" she asked. "You've had boyfriends before!"

Lucy winced, pursing her lips together. "That's exactly why I don't want one," she murmured icily. "You should know why."

Levy sighed. "Lucy, I know Dan hurt you, but you have to pull yourself together. All it means is that he wasn't the right guy. You'll find someone else."

Lucy just shook her head. "I don't want someone else. I just want to be alone," she replied. She paused, looking away. "It's not worth the drama it introduces."

Levy shrugged. "I suppose you have a point," she said. "But still, you don't want to be a lonely cat lady, do you?"

Lucy smiled slightly at this comment. "Don't worry, Levy, that won't happen," she said.

****"You never know," Levy insisted, but she dropped the matter at last, leaning back in her seat as the teacher began his lesson.

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**So what do you think? Like? Hate? Please let me know so I know if it's worth continuing! Again, sorry for all the useless conversation, I promise I'll get to it later c; Thanks!**


	2. Ice Cream and Pink Hair

**Chapter Two! I've been writing a lot lately x3 just not fanfiction, but on a novel I plan to publish if I ever finish it. Updates may be slow, like they were before, but I do plan to keep updating and I'll let you know if that changes. Now then, enjoy the new chapter! Sorry if it's a bit boring at the end. Also, there's some french in it, the translations are at the bottom of the chapter. Thanks, and enjoy!**

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Lucy woke up the next morning with a splitting headache. She groaned, making her way to her bathroom and looking at herself in the mirror. Her hair was knotted and gross-looking and she has forgotten to take off her makeup last night, which resulted in dark mascara and eyeliner lines running down her face. Sighing, she grabbed her makeup wipes and carefully cleaned her face, then ran a brush through her disheveled hair. She reapplied her makeup and, deciding she looked presentable, headed out of her apartment's bedroom. She had moved out of her house last year after a particularly bad fight with her father over her right to choose who she would marry. Her father wanted to marry her off to a business partner in order to close ties between them, but Lucy wouldn't have it.

Sighing softly, Lucy did her hair up in a french braid, too tired to want to deal with her hair today. She wasn't sure why she was so tired, she just was. Everyone has those days, right? Lucy got dressed in her school uniform, which consisted of a white button-up shirt and black jacket with long sleeves, along with a red striped tie, the only color on the entire uniform. She wore a black pleated skirt and knee-high white socks with black Mary-Jane's. Buttoning the vee-neck jacket over her school tie so the bottom of it was hidden, Lucy headed into her kitchen for a quick breakfast.

Lucy ate a small meal of cereal and a banana before heading outside to walk to her school, which was about a five minute walk from her apartment.

Levy met Lucy at the front doors of the school with a broad smile. "'Morning!" she called cheerfully as Lucy approached. Well, at least one of us is happy today, Lucy thought to herself, but returned the smile half-heartedly.

"Good morning," she replied, heading into the Magnolia High School building's large front doors. She and Levy headed down the hallways towards Lucy's locker. It was their routine; go to Lucy's locker first, then Levy's, then to their first period classes, which were in the same hallway.

Lucy reached her locker and began to spin the dial in order to unlock it when Levy spoke up. "So, did you think about our conversation yesterday?" she asked.

Lucy groaned and bumped her head against the locker door melodramatically. "Levy…"

"I know, I know, you don't want a boyfriend," Levy replied, pouting. "But still, at least think about it! You've been super depressing since Dan dumped you."

Lucy glared sideways at Levy, frowning deeply. "I don't want to have this conversation again," she muttered, drawing her head back from the locker door in order to open it. She unzipped the pocket of her backpack and began to deposit her books and binders inside.

Levy sighed loudly. "Lucy, you need to get over him. He's not worth it," she insisted. "We all told you it wouldn't work out."

"I know," Lucy replied coldly. "But I can't just walk away from the fact that we dated for two years. Two years. You can't look at me and tell me we didn't have something."

Levy was silent for a long moment, thinking, then her face lit up. "I know what will make you feel better," she said. "After school today, we can go to that ice cream place you love so much." she smiled at her friend, trying to make her feel better.

Lucy cracked a small smile as she shut her locker door, balancing her books on her hip. "Alright, you got me, Levy. We'll go for ice cream after school," she said. "But only because their peanut butter ice cream is to die for. You know I can't resist it."

"I know," Levy replied with a grin.

"You're going to make me fat," Lucy added, switching her books to her other hip. Why did textbooks have to be so heavy?

Levy giggled and nodded. "Yup, that's definitely what I'm aiming for," she joked, but when she looked up her smile disappeared. She elbowed Lucy lightly. "Snoop alert," she murmured, grinning slightly.

Lucy looked down at Levy in confusion, then up to see who she was talking about. Natsu Dragneel stood at the end of the hall with a group of boys that he always hung out with. Among them was Gray Fullbuster and Levy's boyfriend, Gajeel Redfox. Lucy grimaced at Natsu. They'd been going to the same schools since elementary school, but she still couldn't find anything good about him. What kind of kid dyes his hair pink, anyway?

"Gross," Lucy murmured back, and the two burst into a fit of giggles. Sometimes they were such teenagers.

Natsu looked up at Lucy and Levy passed by, a confused look on his face. "What's so funny?" he asked. Was this going to become a recurring situation? Apparently Natsu had to be let in on every joke. It was like that was all he heard.

"We were just talking about how weird it is that a seventeen year old boy would dye his hair pink," Levy replied shamelessly, indication Natsu's very pink hair.

Natsu frowned. "It's not pink, it's salmon. And I don't dye it, it's natural," he replied, crossing his arms. "You got a problem with that?"

Levy was at a loss for words. That… was not expected. "Natural?" Lucy replied, frowning. "No way. I don't believe you."

Natsu shrugged. "How do you explain your friend's blue hair, then?" he asked, pointing to Levy.

Levy and Lucy exchange a glance, and Levy shrugged. "He's got a point, you know," she said.

Lucy's frown deepened. "Then where does the pink hair come from?" she asked. "Your mother's side, or your father's?"

Natsu shrugged again. It seemed to be a habit of his. "Didn't know my parents," he replied simply. "I'm adopted."

Adopted? Why hadn't Lucy known that? It must not have been a very widely known fact about Natsu. "Oh, well, sorry?" she said, though she didn't really mean her apology. Her mother was dead and she could care less about her father, so this kind of thing didn't apply to her.

Natsu waved off her apology. "No problem, I don't mind questions," he replied, and there was a mischievous gleam in his dark eyes.

Lucy arched an eyebrow at this somewhat creepy gesture, but just shook her head. "C'mon, let's go, Levy," she said, looping her arm through her friend's and pulling her along. That was embarrassing. Hopefully no one she knew heard that.

"Hey, wait-" Levy squeaked as she was practically dragged down the halls, but walked beside Lucy. "What was that about?"

Lucy just shook her head and walked down the hall towards her class. She paused at the classroom door and turned to Levy. "Meet me at my locker after class for ice cream?" she suggested.

Levy nodded, but it was obvious from her expression that this conversation was not over.

After school, Levy met Lucy at her locker, just like she had promised, and the two drove to Lucy's favorite ice cream parlor, Madame Rossini's. It was owned by an old family friend of the Heartfilia's, but unlike most of her father's "friends", this one treated Lucy like a person and not an object. Madame Rossini was often her go-to girl when she had a fight with her father and needed a place to go. Needless to say, she went there often as a child, but it had been a while since she had last made an appearance.

Lucy pushed open the tall glass doors and poked her head into the parlor. "Madame Rossini!" she called, walking inside and ignoring the stares she received from the people around her.

A somewhat small, pretty woman who must have been in her late thirties looked up from her spot on the counter and smiled brightly as the two girls walked in. "Bienvenue*, my dear!" she greeted. "What can I do for you today?" she had a heavy french accent.

"Good morning, madame Rossini," Lucy greeted back. "I've had somewhat of a bad day, and I could use some of your ice cream to cheer me up."

"Did you 'ave another fight with your father?" Madame Rossini asked, her neatly plucked and trimmed eyebrows furrowing with concern.

Lucy shook her head. "No, I moved out. I've just been feeling a bit depressed," she answered, sitting down on one of the bar stools in front of the counter. Levy took a seat next to her.

Madame Rossini nodded. "Oui, il est très troublant,"** Madame Rossini replied, and hurried to the display, where the ice cream's were displayed. "I'll make ze usual for you then." she proceeded to dish up Lucy's favorite, peanut butter ice cream with chocolate chips. Almost like a Reese's Cup.

Lucy thanked Madame Rossini while Levy ordered her own ice cream. Madame Rossini hurried back up to the display, and frowned lightly. She muttered something under her breath. "Je suis désolé***, we are out of ze ice cream you ordered. Stay zere one second, let me call my assistant."

Lucy frowned. "Assistant? I didn't know you had one," she said.

"I just got him a few days ago," Madame Rossini explained. "He looks about your age. Perhaps you know 'im?" she paused and turned around, sticking her head into the storage room. "Natsu, mon ami!**** Come 'ere please!"

Lucy's eyes widened and her breath hitched. "You've got to be kidding me…"

(* = "Welcome"

** = "Yes, it is very troubling

*** = "I'm sorry"

**** = "My friend")

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**And there you have it. What do you think? Probably not as good as the first chapter, but I like it all the same, especially the middle part. Please review, your reviews are what keep me writing on here!**


	3. Part-Time Jobs and Horrible Insults

**Hey guys! I have writing fever this week! ;D I already have another chapter of Keeping Secrets written and ready to upload, and I plan to have that up shortly. In the meantime, enjoy this new chapter of I Love You, I Hate You! I really enjoy writing this, even if it's still a little slow beginning. Pleas review, I love hearing your thoughts on my writing!**

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Lucy groaned loudly as Natsu walked out of the back room of her favorite ice cream parlor. Well, time to find a new favorite, she thought, propping her head up on her hand and leaning her elbow on the counter. This was great, just great! Now her least favorite person was working at her most favorite place to be. Was that sentence even grammatically correct? Lucy scowled at her own thoughts, cursing her perfectionism.

Natsu grinned when he saw her. "Lucy! I didn't know you came here," he greeted, placing Levy's ice cream in front of her.

I glared at Natsu coldly, daring him to keep talking. He didn't. "Yeah, I come here," she muttered. "Except that I'm not coming anymore. You've ruined it for me."

Natsu frowned. "What did I do?" he demanded, looking at Levy, who just shrugged in response. "I needed a job and there was an opening, so I took it."

Lucy was tempted to tell him to get a different job, but that would sound selfish of her. "Whatever," she said instead, poking at her peanut butter ice cream. Suddenly she wasn't very hungry anymore. "Maybe I should take this to go…"

Natsu shook his head. "It'll melt," he said. "And it doesn't taste as good if it's melted and refrozen." He notedly avoided making eye contact with either girl, and Lucy took this fact into account. Most likely he was embarrassed to be seen working at an ice cream parlor, but then again, he seemed quite excited to see someone he recognized

Lucy shrugged and shoved a spoonful of the ice cream into her mouth. It lifted her spirits a bit and she sighed softly. She would tolerate Natsu for now. "So, you're broke, huh?" she said, grinning slightly.

Natsu raised an eyebrow at her. "Not broke, just low on funds," he answered. "I needed a part-time job to pay for this thing I want"

Lucy nodded, but didn't bother to ask more questions. She could care less what Natsu wanted to buy. "You could babysit," she suggested, and smirked. The very thought made her feel a little better.

Natsu rolled her eyes. "Yeah, cause I'm totally the kind of guy to go watch some other person's brats while they go and have a lovely evening by themselves," he said sarcastically. "I'd rather die." he made a gagging motion with his hand and picked up some empty ice cream bowls that people left behind from their previous visits.

Lucy giggled at this. "Yup, I could totally see it," I replied. "Except that it would be a story on the news about how you lost someone's children and were too lazy to look for them."

Levy stifled her laughter, covering her mouth with her hand before shoveling more mint chocolate chip ice cream into her mouth.

Natsu rolled his eyes and frowned disapprovingly at me. "Gee, I feel so loved," he replied blandly before dumping the paper bowls and plastic spoons in the trash.

"You should," Lucy replied with a laugh. "I'd definitely love to see that on the news."

Natsu just rolled his eyes again and leaned against the counter. "So, what brings you girls here?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Bad day," Lucy replied, eating another spoonful of ice cream. "This is my comfort food." Levy looked shocked at such an honest answer, but that was just how Lucy was.

Natsu arched an eyebrow at me curiously. "Ouch. What happened?" he asked.

"Are you always such a gossip?" Levy asked, interjecting before Lucy could reply.

Lucy just shrugged. "It was nothing, I have a short temper today," she said. "Actually, now that I think about it, it was more depressing than bad." she tapped her spoon against her chin thoughtfully before shrugging, returning her attention to her ice cream.

Natsu nodded. "I hear you," he said, looking towards the door. Not that there was anything to look at. For a moment there was a sad glint in his eye, and Lucy's eyebrows furrowed, trying to figure out if she had actually seen that or not. She shook her head and glanced down at her now half-empty ice cream bowl.

"So, Natsu, word's gotten around that you're going after Lisanna Strauss," Lucy began, an evil glint in her eye. Levy glanced at her curiously. What was with this all of a sudden?

Natsu shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. She's pretty cute, but not like a model, more like a teddy bear, or something like that. Like my step-sister, Wendy."

Lucy smirked slightly at the comment. "Sister complex?" she said, though it came out more like a statement than a question.

Natsu's lips pressed together into a fine line, annoyance clear in his eyes. "No, I just think she reminds me of Wendy," he replied coldly. "I mean, look at Lisanna! What kind of guy wouldn't want a girl like her?"

Lucy just shrugged.

"I mean, just think about her body. She may be small, but she's sexy."

For a moment, Lucy looked baffled, then her expression hardened to anger and she squeezed her spoon, so much that it snapped in her hand. She stood up, glaring dangerously at Natsu.

Levy looked up in surprise. What was with the mood swings all of a sudden. "Lucy, calm down," she murmured, touching Lucy's arm, but her friend shook her off.

"What did you say about Lisanna?" she asked, her voice low and menacing. "That's my friend, you lecherous bastard! Don't treat her like some sort of… slutty object!"

Natsu jumped at Lucy's sudden change in mood, but he didn't say anything in defense. Why, he had no clue. "Woah, Lucy, it's fine-"

"No, it's not fine!" Lucy screamed, her voice rising with every word. "I won't let you touch her, you bastard! She doesn't deserve a lowlife like you!" And then she slapped him. Legitimately hit him across the face, hard enough to leave a bright red mark. Natsu yelled, more in surprise than pain, and stared up at Lucy in surprise. Lucy wouldn't let him say anything, though. "I don't want to see your face! You stay away from me until you learn to respect women!" then she turned on her heels and grabbed Levy's arm. "Come on, Levy, we're leaving," she muttered, her voice lowering again.

Levy let out a small noise of protest, but allowed Lucy to drag her out, leaving a very baffled and confused Natsu behind her.

****Natsu reached up to touch his face, wincing in pain at the bruise that was already forming there. "Shit, Lucy, that really hurt," he murmured under his breath, and sighed, falling into his chair and running a hand through his hair. "I can't say anything right, can I?"

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**And there you have it. Like it? Please tell me what you think! That's how I'm able to keep writing! Next up, I'm updating Keeping Secrets! Love you guys ;D**


	4. Apologies and Tolerance

**Hooray for new chapters! I always start ne stories by writing the first chapters fast, that's just me. I'll slow down soon. I am planning to update a lot more often, however, and I was wondering; do you guys like long chapters with a longer wait, or shorter chapters with a shorter wait? So far my chapters are around 1,500 words. Review and tell me what you think! Now then, I hope you enjoy the new chapter!**

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"So, what do you think of Natsu?"

Lucy sighed, fiddling with the hem of her skirt. Why did Levy and her conversations always have to be about guys? "He's a pervert and lecher," she replied coldly. "I thought we went through this already?"

Levy frowned slightly. "Well, yeah, we did, but I think you're misunderstanding," she said. "Natsu's the kind of guy who says whatever comes to his mind, regardless of what it is. I don't think he meant to make you angry."

"Well, he did, and he had a dirty mind if that's the first thing he can think of," Lucy muttered crossly, folding her arms over her chest. "How come you don't hate him as much as I do? He insulted our friend and all other women. Don't you have any feminist feelings in you?" she knew it was unfair to expect this from Levy, but she was still cross from yesterday's confrontation with Natsu. How dare he say things like that?

Levy shrugged. "I've never been the kind of girl to hold grudges like that," she replied. "You, on the other hand…" she looked me up and down speculatively. "...look ready to murder someone."

"That's because I am," Lucy said, frowning angrily. She glanced out the window of her second period History of Magnolia class and refused to look at anyone else, drowning out the teacher's talking in the background. Maybe I shouldn't be ignoring Ms. Strauss, she thought. She was Lisanna's older sister, after all, and I don't want to be on bad terms with her.

Levy sighed softly and bent over to whisper in my ear. "Well then, don't look now," she said, and jerked her head ever-so-slightly in the direction of the back of the class.

Lucy gave Levy a funny look and glanced over her shoulder. She nearly snapped her pencil when she noticed Natsu watching her from the back of the class. When she looked towards him he hastily turned back to listening to Ms. Strauss. Lucy scowled at him and turned back as well. "Stalker," she muttered unhappily, tapping her fingertips on the desk.

Levy giggled softly, making sure not to attract the attention of Ms. Strauss, who was busy giving a lecture on how Magnolia High was founded. "I bet he likes you," she teased.

"If he does, I'll kill him," Lucy decided, picking up her pencil and tapping it on her paper, leaving little gray dots on the white surface.

Levy rolled her eyes, but there was an amused glint in them. "And I'll bail you out of jail afterwards," she said with a small grin, and returned to her notes.

The rest of class was pretty boring. Every once in a while Lucy would sneak glances back at Natsu, but he didn't peek at her anymore, or at least, she didn't catch him. When the class bell rang she sighed and picked up her books and binders and headed out of the class with Levy.

Things would have been fine had Natsu not decided to approach them after class. He jogged up to them, waving. "Hey, wait up!" he called, slowing down once he caught up.

Lucy glared sideways at Natsu. "What do you want?" she snapped. "Make it quick, I have better things to do than talk to you."

Normally Natsu would have made a snarky comment back, but he just gave Lucy a serious look. "Can I talk to you for a second?" he asked, and glanced at Levy. "Privately?"

Lucy looked suspicious and opened her mouth to argue, but Levy beat her to it. "Alright, but be quick! I'll see you later, Lucy!"

"Hey, wait!" Lucy called after her friend, but Levy was already out of sight, disappearing amongst the other students heading down the halls. She huffed a breath of frustration and turned to Natsu, crossing her arms so her books were held over her chest. "What?" she demanded impatiently.

Natsu ran a hand through his salmon-colored hair, looking away nervously. "I wanted to apologize for... what I said yesterday. that was out of line, sorry." his voice lowered considerably near the end and his gaze lowered to his feet.

Lucy was actually very surprised to hear Natsu apologize, but she kept her firm, annoyed expression. "You should be!" she snapped. "What you said was degrading and sexist, and it was very rude to say about our friend. What do you have yo say for yourself?"

"...Sorry?"

"You said that already."

"Well, what else am i supposed to say?" Natsu asked, waving his hands in the air. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Look I didn't mean what I said. I say stupid stufd a lot, but it's never serious! It was a joke, I just told it to the wrong person."

Lucy arched an eyebrow at Natsu. "What are you implying?" she asked defensively. "That I don't have a sense of humor?"

Natsu's eyes widened. "No, no, that's not what I meant!" he said quickly. "I meant that, I meant, ugh." he face-palmed, shaking his head.

Lucy couldn't help it, she burst into a fit of giggles. "Relax, I was joking," she said. "Geez, I'm not that uptight!"

Natsu looked up, a baffled look on his face. "You... huh?" he stammered, then shook his head. "Okay, okay, does this mean that... we're cool?"

Lucy thought for a moment, simply for the sake of making Natsu wait, then nodded. "Yeah, I guess we are," she replied. Natsu grinned, but she cut him off before he could say anything. "But I still don't like you! Don't go thinking we're friends or something crazy like that!"

Natsu's smile disappeared. "Come on, is it that crazy to want to be friends?" he asked.

Lucy narrowed her eyes incredulously at him and tapped her chin, humming. "Well, considering I've known you since we were five and you've never once taken the time to talk to me one-on-one, then yes, it is crazy."

"Eleven years? Has it been that long?"

"Yes."

"Well, then why not start now?" Natsu asked. "We have the next class period together, I'll walk you there?"

Lucy just shrugged in reply and started down the hall so that Natsu had to jog to catch up. With their conversation they were both late to class. By the time the period was half over, Lucy had a pretty good list of her likes and dislikes regarding Natsu.

Likes: He's cute, funny, can be a gentleman if he wants, has good grades for a guy who's never studied before. Nice choice of hair color?

Dislikes: Lecherous, insulting, sexist, wears his uniform like a gang member, low IQ, doesn't think before he speaks, bad at apologizing, odd choice of hair color?

She was still debating the hair color. The dislikes outweighed the likes, definitely.

Lucy was drawn from her thoughts by the teacher, Mr. Doranbolt, raising his voice suddenly.

"I will now explain your Health project," he announced. "You will be working in pairs, I have the list of partnerships posted on the door. Feel free to come up and take a look."

I stood and headed for the list, slipping agiley between the other students and looking up and down the list. Ah, there it was, Lucy Heartfilia and - guess who? - Natsu Dragneel. Lucy's face fell. Knowing Natsu, he would probably make Lucy do all the work. Perhaps she could request a change of partners?

She felt an arm around her shoulders and looked up to see Natsu grinning down at her. "Looks like we're working together, partner!" he cheered, his grin broadening.

_God, help me!_

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**Yay :3 I enjoyed writing this chapter. hope you guys like it! Love you guys!**


	5. Projects and Rainstorms

**New chapter! ;D I tried to make this one longer. Not sure how long it is, but it should be at least 2,000 words... anyway, hope you enjoy! I already have Chapter Six in the works, so it should be up in the next few days. Please review and tell me what you think! I'm also open to suggestions, though I make no promises as to whether I'll incorporate it in the story or not.**

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Levy burst our laughing when Lucy told her the story, so loudly that Lucy had to hold the phone away from her ear. She frowned at her and crossed her arms defensively, knowing Levy couldn't see her through her mobile's receiver. "It's not my fault he's an idiot!" she snapped. "But it's not like a have a choice. I'm going to his house tonight to work on the project." sh sighed dramatically and collapsed on her bed, pouting. "Make up an excuse for me so I don't have to go!"

_"I'm allergic to homework?"_ Levy suggested. Lucy could almost see her friend's amused smirk.

"Stop it, I'm serious!" Lucy yelled, waving her arms for emphasis and pressing the phone between her ear and her shoulder so that she could work on an origami dragon at the same time. It was a stress reliever.

Levy sighed on her end of the line. _"Come on, Lucy, it's not that bad,"_ she replied. _"At least he's not some creepy stalker."_

"No, but he's a lecher and I wouldn't put it past him to try to put the moves on me," Lucy replied, frowning as she tried to fold the dragon's wings.

_"You said his dad's gonna be there,"_ Levy pointed out.

Lucy snorted. "His foster dad," Lucy corrected. "Yeah, for a little bit, then he has to work a night shift. So I get to be alone with Natsu all evening. Yay." her voice was gloomy and laced with sarcasm. In other words, she was hoping to God that something would come up so she didn't have to go to Natsu's house.

_"He apologized to you, right?"_ Levy added. _"Did that change they way you look at him now?"_

Lucy arched an eyebrow. What was this to her, some kind of hook-up? "...I tolerate him," she replied warily, picking her words carefully.

Levy giggled. _"Can you tolerate him for one evening?"_ she asked.

Lucy thought about this for a long moment, then sighed. "...Fine, but only 'cause you asked me," she mumbled, and glanced at the clock. "I have to get going now, I'll text you about it later. Bye."

_"Bye."_

Lucy hung up the call and slipped her phone into her jeans' pocket, grabbing her coat and walking outside. Natsu"s house was five minutes down the straight street going the opposite direction than the route she used for school. As she walked, she hummed a tune to herself and then began to sing, just to pass the time. She continued to sing softly to herself until she reached the house of her pink - excuse me - salmon - haired partner. She knocked lightly on the door, hoping he would 'g answer so she could go home. unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

Natsu opened the door a few seconds after she knocked and gave her a toothy smile. "Hey, Luce! Come on in, we're all ready for ya!"

Lucy nodded and stepped into the house, fiddling with the edge of her pocket nervously. she didn't like that she would be here, alone, with Natsu.

What she was not expecting, however, was to hear a conversation coming from in the kitchen. She followed Natsu in and spotted a tall, red-haired man conversing with a blue-haired young girl.

Natsu turned to Lucy and smiled again. "Lucy, this is my foster dad, Igneel, and his step-daughter Wendy," he explained.

Wendy. Lucy remembered Levy saying something about her. She could already tell Natsu's family was confusing, him being adopted and having a step-sister.

Wendy smiled up at Lucy sheepishly through her long eyelashes. "N-nice to meet you," she said softly.

Lucy smiled back at Wendy. "You too," she replied, then turned her attention to Igneel and held out a hand. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Dragneel. I'm Lucy Heartfilia."

Igneel shook Lucy's hand, seeming surprised at her name. "You wouldn't happen to be Jude Heartfilia's daughter, would you? Jude and I were good friends in business college!"

Lucy flinched visibly at this comment, but nodded. "By blood, yes," she replied, but didn't bother elaborating.

If Natsu noticed, he didn't show it. "Good to see you getting along," he said with a smile. "Alright, Igneel, Luce and I are going to start on our project. Wendy, upstairs!"

Wendy nodded and climbed the stairs leading to what Lucy supposed was the bedrooms. She wished she had stayed. Maybe then Natsu would be less likely to make a move on her. "Luce?" she asked, arching an eyebrow at him. "What is that, some kind of pet nickname?"

Natsu shrugged. "I just thought it sounded cute," he replied with a stupid grin.

Lucy rolled her eyes and took a seat at the table, not waiting for an invitation. Igneel smiled at her and announced he was leaving before heading out and driving away. That left just me and Natsu in the house, along with Wendy. Well, if nothing else, I could probably trust Wendy to be my witness should Natsu decide to assault me. "So, what's the project on?" I asked, looking up at Natsu expectantly.

As a reply, Natsu pulled a paper from a binder labeled "Health" and laid it in front of me. I pulled the paper closer and read over the first line. "Project assignment: write a short paragraph explaining each of the following STD's and why they are dangerous." she wrinkled her nose. "Gross."

Natsu chuckled and pulled the paper back, reading over the assignment again. "How specific," he commented sarcastically. "I guess Mr. Gryder can't blame us for not being detailed enough." he shrugged and leaned back in his chair.

Lucy glanced at the clock quickly. It was nearly seven-thirty already, and if she wanted any sleep tonight she would need to be home by nine. She opened her backpack and pulled out some supplies she had brought, including pencils, sharpies, colored pencils, markers, scissors and glue. "Alright then, let's get this over with," she sighed. "You have the posterboard, right?"

Natsu nodded and grabbed a large white poster from behind the counter, laying it out on the table. "What first?" Lucy asked, tapping her pencil on the table boredly.

Natsu shrugged. "I'm not good at projects," he admitted. "Usually I just put a bunch of pictures with captions and accept my C's."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Of all the people I got as my partner…"

"What, you don't like me?" Natsu asked, faking a depressed expression. "I'm not good enough to be your partner?"

"You hit the bulls-eye," Lucy replied disinterestedly, sketching bubble letters on the poster for a title. What a gruesome subject.

"Ouch, tough crowd." Natsu picked up pencil and started to help Lucy sketch.

By the time nine o'clock rolled around, the partners had finished the title and some of the writing. Most of their time was spent sitting in silence, thinking of what to put on their poster. Lucy glanced at the clock and jumped. "It's almost nine-thirty! I should head home," she said, standing up.

Natsu pouted. "Aw, already?" he whined. Lucy glared at him.

"I've been here for two hours," she pointed out, and grabbed her coat from the back of her chair, pulling it on as she made her way towards the door. Natsu stood up to accompany her, but when she opened the door, she couldn't take a step outside.

Lucy winced as a crack of thunder sounded overhead, and she saw a bright flash of lightning nearby. Rain was coming down so hard she could barely see the other side of the road. She cursed under her breath. She had walked here, living not far away, but five minutes was a long way to walk in this weather.

Natsu hissed a breath, biting his lower lip. "Yikes, I didn't even notice the rain," he murmured, and closed the door again. "No way I'm letting you walk home in a storm like that."

"But…" Lucy began, but Natsu cut her off.

"You can stay here for tonight, no worries," he said, waving off her attempts to argue. "I'm sure we've got some extra pillows and blankets around here somewhere. If you want, you can sleep down here on the couch."

Lucy still looked reluctant and opened her mouth to argue again, but Natsu wouldn't allow it. "Lucy, I'm not letting you walk home in this storm," he said, with an air of finality, and approached the bottom of the stairs. "Wendy!" he called.

Wendy poked her head around the corner of the stairwell and smiled, brushing her blue bangs from her eyes. "Yes?" she replied.

"Grab some blankets and pillows," Natsu instructed her. "Lucy's gonna have to stay here tonight. The storm is too bad."

Wendy's eyes widened and she covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh, poor thing! Do you need to call your parents too?" she asked.

Lucy shook her head swiftly. No way was she calling her father. "I live in an apartment," she explained, and Wendy nodded and disappeared back behind the stairwell again, returning shortly with a pillow and thick blanket. She hopped down the stairs.

"Do you want to sleep on the couch?" she asked, looking up at Lucy with big dark eyes.

She's adorable, Lucy thought, and nodded. "Yeah, the couch is fine," she said, and sighed softly. Looks like there was no way out of having to sleep here, even though she would rather die. Wendy quickly made up a makeshift bed for her and Lucy thanked her, at least grateful that she would have a place to sleep. She pulled the blanket over herself.

"Good night, Lucy. Wendy and I will be upstairs if you need us," Natsu said, before heading upstairs with Wendy close behind it. Lucy found it funny that the two ended up as step-siblings. They were so different. Natsu was, for one, much taller than Wendy, and their personalities were opposite as well. Natsu was boisterous and outgoing while Wendy was more quiet and kind. It was a good mix; seemed like Wendy could keep Natsu in line.

Lucy sighed and closed her eyes, although it was a long time before she fell asleep. When she did sleep, however, her sleep was restful and dreamless.

Lucy woke up the next morning to the feeling of someone shaking her. She mumbled something inaudible before actually waking up, blinking at her assailant. She nearly fell off the couch when she noticed Natsu's face uncomfortably close to hers. "Lucy, wake up!" he said.

"I'm awake!" Lucy replied irritably, picking up her pillow and hitting him with it. "Calm down for a second." she sighed and rubbed her eyes, sitting up and glancing around. It took her a moment to remember where she was and why she was here. "Damn storm," she muttered under her breath.

Natsu was still a little baffled after getting hit by a flying pillow, but recovered quickly and straightened up. "Good morning!" he sang cheerfully. "I made breakfast, but we have to hurry if we're going to get to school on time!"

Lucy arched an eyebrow at him. Natsu, cook? It seemed pretty far-fetched to her, but she stood up anyway, running her fingers through her knotted hair. She reminded herself to ask Wendy for a hairbrush later.

Natsu walked into the kitchen and placed a half-burnt stack of pancakes in front of her. Lucy poked at them softly with her fork before looking up at Natsu. "Is this a joke? These are burnt," she stated.

Natsu smiled sheepishly and rubbed the top of his head. "Sorry, I don't cook a lot," he said. That figures.

Lucy shrugged and began to cut up the pancakes. At least they were only a little burst on the outside, inside they were quite tasty. Wendy joined them for breakfast shortly after.

Breakfast was short and quick, like she hoped. Wendy showed Lucy to the bathroom after breakfast and she was able to brush her hair and fix her makeup. Sadly, she didn't have any clothes to wear, so she would have to wear her clothes from yesterday. She thanked the Lord that she had changed into comfortable clothes after school yesterday and she wouldn't have to wear the same thing twice. After making sure she was presentable, she headed back downstairs, to where Natsu and Wendy were waiting for her.

"Alright, put some shoes on, and we'll leave!" Natsu said. Lucy nodded and pulled on the red converse's she had worn yesterday and grabbed her jacket and backpack from beside the door. Double-checking to make sure she hadn't left anything, she followed Natsu and Wendy out the door.

Over the course of the ten-minute walk to school, Lucy learned that Wendy was actually two years younger than her, but had skipped fourth grade and was taking a few sophomore-level classes like Geometry and Biology. That explained why Wendy and Lucy shared the same Geometry class.

They were less than ten feet into the school when a woman from the main office called Lucy over to her. Curious, Lucy followed her into the office and up to her desk. The woman looked sad for some reason. "Can I help you?" she asked.

The woman nodded. "I just received a call from a Ms. Supetto saying that she had to speak with you at once," she explained, and held a telephone out to her.

Lucy frowned and took the phone, holding it up to her ear. "Ms. Supetto?" she said into the receiver.

_"Lucy?"_ Ms. Supetto's voice come over the speaker. _"Oh, Lucy, I'm so sorry. Your father… he's dead."_


	6. Depression and Friendly Care

**Hurray for Chapter Six! I Hate You, I Love You is now all caught up with Keeping Secrets. Speaking of which, Keeping Secrets is taking a long time to update. I've reached a spot where I need to come up with a transition and it's taking a little bit of time. Hopefully it will be up soon. Thank you all for sticking with me! c: Now, on to the chapter!**

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Lucy was out of it for the rest of the day. Her friends noticed right away something was up, especially when Natsu decided to make a comment about her clothing and Lucy didn't hit him for it, only hummed in response. By the time lunch rolled around, it was obvious something had happened.

Lucy poked at her food, a deep frown on her face. She had her head forward so her bangs shielded her face, and there were tear stains on her face. She had stopped crying long ago, though.

Levy leaned over slightly to get a look at her face and bit her lip. "Lucy?" she murmured. She had never seen her friend so... dead-looking. And Levy didn't even know why. "Lucy, honey, you need to eat."

"...Not hungry," Lucy mumbled, more of a whisper than anything. She had barely said a word since first period when she had arrived late, and anytime someone tried to ask her why she was so sad, she would get angry, or start crying again.

Lisanna put a comforting hand on Lucy's shoulder and rubbed it lightly. "You'll feel better if you talk to us," she encouraged, but Lucy just shrugged her hand off. It was an improvement; when Gray had tried to comfort her, she had slapped his hand hard enough to redden it and ran off. She refused go say more than a few words. They even tried texting her, to see if she would respond to that, but she would just ignore the vibrations of her cell in her pocket.

Lucy just shook her head. "...don't wanna talk..." she said, and continued to poke at her lunch distastefully. After a few minutes she stood up and threw her food, uneaten, into the trash. She sat back down at the table.

Natsu looked down ag Lucy helplessly. "Lucy, please talk to me," he begged.

Lucy took a deep breath and stood up. "I'm going to the library," she announced, spinning on her heels and running out of the cafeteria. If she didn't leave now she was sure to break out into sobs. She hadn't expected her father's unfortunate death to hurt her so much. She hated him, more fhan anything, had wished for his death for years. Tears stung her eyes as she retreated to the corner of the library, curling up in the corner and sobbing. She should be happy he's gone. She was free now, no more worries. But instead she only felt guilty. Guilty for always fighting with him, guilty for letting him die when they were on bad terms. Guilty for not realizing sooner what she had done to him. Ms. Supetto had told her he had died from illness that resulted from not taking care of himself. Ever since Lucy had left nearly a year ago, her father had stopped eating unless someone reminded him, got little to no sleep, and barely said a word. "Father..." Lucy whimpered. "I'm... sorry..."

"Sorry about what?"

Lucy gasped and her head jerked up. Tears ran down her face. "Natsu," she whispered, spotting his salmon-colored hair. "But how did you find me?"

"Lucky guess," Natsu answered, reaching out and catching one of her tears on his finger. "I came go check up on you. We're worried, Lucy. Please tell me what's wrong, please. I hate seeing you like this."

Lucy couldn't take it anymore. She buried her face in her hands and started to cry harder than ever. Natsu pulled her against his chest and stroked her hair lightly, murmuring reassurances to her. Lucy buried her face in his shirt and cried, clutching his shoulders tightly with both hands.

"It's alright, I'm sure whatever happened, it'll be alright," Natau murmured to her softly.

"I killed him..." Lucy sobbed. She had never felt this kind of emotion before. She was pretty much an emotional wreck.

Natsu frowned slightly and tensed. "Who?" he asked.

Lucy sniffed and rubbed her eyes briefly with one hand, trying to control herself. "My father... he starved himself over me," she whispered. "I hated him, I wanted him to die, but I didn't want this..."

Natsu let out a small breath, partially relieved. "It's not your fault," he murmured, touching his chin to the top of her head.

"And now I'm confiding in you..." Lucy continued and then laughed bitterly. "God, I'm a wreck."

Natsu tapped his chin with one finger thoughtfully. "No, more like a hot mess," he replied.

Lucy stared at him strangely for a moment, then giggled, a real laugh this time. She wiped her eyes with her sleeve, effectively smearing dark makeup all over her nice yellow shirt. She sighed and sat up, calming herself down, though her breaths were still shaky and it was obvious she was still very upset. "I'm going to go clean up," she said softly, and stood up. She was shaky on her feet, and Natsu grasped her arm to steady her. His eyebrows furrowed in concern at her state. "Lucy, when was the last time you ate?" he asked.

Lucy shrugged. "This morning, I think," she answered.

"Geez, no wonder you're so unsteady. Change of plans; I'm taking you back to my house so you can rest and eat," he said, in a tone that discouraged arguing.

Lucy glanced up at him. She wanted to argue, to give him all the reasons why she shouldn't go, but she was too tired. "Can Levy come?" she asked instead.

Natsu smiled at her. "Whatever you want, Princess," he replied.

When Natsu informed Levy of Lucy's predicament, she was more than happy to ditch the second half of school in order to go with Lucy. In addition, Wendy came as well, and many of the boys tried, but were rejected by Levy's saying she didn't want her best friend smothered. It was strange to Lucy how the two groups had somehow become one, the boys and the girls, after Gray had finally hooked up with Juvia. For some reason this tied the strings.

Natsu walked the three girls back to his house. Luckily, Igneel was at work during the day, and Grandine, his wife, was out visiting a relative for the next few days. Natsu pulled out his key and unlocked the door, heading inside and locking it behind him after everyone was safely inside.

"Wendy, you and Levy take Lucy upstairs and help her get cleaned up," he said. "A bath is a good idea. Grandine has some old clothes that might fit Lucy."

Wendy nodded obediently and ushered Lucy upstairs and into the bathroom, where she and Levy proceeded to sit Lucy down and clean her face. Lucy tried to tell them she wasn't a child, she could do it herself, but they persisted. Wendy swiped some makeup wipes and extra clothes from the master bedroom and set them on the counter, carefully wiping the makeup stains from her cheeks. when they were finished, Levy smiled at her.

"Much better," she said.

Wendy nodded agreement. "There's some clothing on the counter if you need it and a towel on the rack. Go ahead and use the bath," she said. "Levy and I will be in my room when you finish." she smiled radiantly at Lucy, which made her wonder how on earth she got such great friends.

"Thanks, guys, you're the best," she said and smiled faintly before her friends left. Lucy sighed and ran herself a bath, humming softly to pass the time before climbing inside. It really did feel good to soak in the tub, and she closed her eyes momentarily before looking over the various soaps on the rim of the tub. She picked up a women's shampoo she assumed to be Wendy's, figuring she wouldn't mind if she used a little, and massaged it into her scalp. The action felt good, rejuvenating, and cheered her up, if only by a fraction. She took her time scrubbing her skin and hair before draining the tub and stepping out, wrapping a small towel around her hair to keep it from dripping and another larger towel to dry herself off with. she then changed into Grandine's clothes. They were a little big, but they were comfy and presentable. She felt a little better after her bath and exited the bathroom, heading down the hall until she found Wendy and Levy in what she deducted was Wendy's room.

The two immediately looked up from their conversation when Lucy approached. Wendy smiled at Lucy. "Feel better?" she asked, patting a space on the bed between her and Levy.

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, a little. Thanks," she said with a smile, and sat down gratefully on the bed. "Where's Natsu?" he asked.

"Downstairs. in fact, we should go meet him. He made us all dinner."

As if on cue, Lucy's stomach grumbled. She giggled. "It's been a while since I last ate," she said, standing and following Wendy downstairs.

Lucy was half expecting a half-burnt meal like breakfast that morning, but was pleasantly surprised to see a bowl of macaroni, not burnt, sitting on the table.

Natsu looked up from where he was sitting on the couch in the living room when the three girls arrived, smiling gently at them. There was a hint of relief in his eyes when he spotted Lucy, and he stood up, gesturing for them to sit down at the table.

Lucy took a seat next to Levy, glancing up at Natsu. "No way you made this," she said simply.

Natsu laughed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Wendy helped me a little," he admitted.

Wendy giggled. "If I didn't help you'd burn the house down," she joked. "Better safe than sorry, right?"

Lucy smiled softly along with her friends and glanced once at Natsu. She thought for a moment. Perhaps he wasn't so bad after all. She began to make lists in her head again, staring at the crease where the wall met the ceiling.

Likes: Cute, funny, surprisingly honest, can be kind-hearted, somewhat sensitive, strong... This was getting out of hand. She shook her head once and went on to the dislikes.

Dislikes: Pushy, demanding, bad at school, doesn't know when to shut up, bad at cooking and... that was all. How could her list be so short?

"...Lucy?"

Lucy blinked and glanced around like she had just woken up from a light sleep. "Hm?" she glanced at Levy, the source of disruption.

Levy smiled at her. "You were spacing off, and you had this weird look in your eyes," she said, amused.

Lucy blushed in embarrassment. She wasn't going to talk to Levy about her lists, no matter how close they were. She would take it as an indicator that she had a crush on Natsu, which she didn't, and would immediately try to set them up. "Sorry, I'm just tired," she answered, picking up the spoon by her bowl and scooping some macaroni into her mouth. She hadn't realised how hungry she was.

Natsu sat down across from Lucy and Wendy took the seat beside him, and the four of them chatted idly. The talk was a welcome distraction from the matter of Jude Heartfilia's death. Lucy sighed contentedly. She still felt depressed, but at least she didn't feel like crying anymore. She doubted the feeling would last very long, but a girl could hope, right?

Lucy finished off her meal quickly, not realizing how hungry she really was. Normally she didn't skip meals like she did at lunch. She waited patiently for the others to finish before standing and stretching.

Natsu glanced up at her. "If you're not in a hurry to go home, we could all hang out," he suggested. "There are some board games upstairs."

Levy stifled her giggles. "Board games? That's your idea of a good time?" she said sarcastically.

"I think it sounds like fun!" Wendy piped up. "I love board games, and I always beat Natsu at chess."

Lucy arched an eyebrow at Wendy comically. "Natsu plays chess?" she replied. "Surprising. I didn't think he was smart enough to play chess."

Wendy giggled and nodded. "He tries," she replied. "He's just not patient."

Natsu frowned at his step-sister. "I can be patient, and I beat you at chess once!" he insisted, pouting.

"Yeah, but that was because you had Igneel helping you!" Wendy answered.

"I'm the best at chess," Levy boasted. "I say bring it on!"

Lucy sighed softly and smiled. She was glad her friends were back to their old selves. She was sure they were worried sick about her, considering how she acted today. "Yeah, well I'll beat all of you!" she jumped into the conversation, bickering and laughing with her friends. For a little while, she was able to forget her worries.


	7. IM's and Intricacy

**Chapter Seven! This chapter is more of a filler and deals a lot with Lucy's love life xP It's also kind of short, so I wrote a little sort story at the end! It's called "He Spoke". Sorry if it's kind of awkward, it was meant to be a little joke thing c; anyway, onto the chapter! I hope you enjoy!**

**Shout-out to JuliannaCherries for reviewing!**

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Lucy stayed home the next day. The moment she left her friends, she felt lonely again. With nothing to distract her anymore, she shut herself in her bedroom and attempted to sleep. To make a long story short, she was up all night.

Lucy didn't wake up until late in the morning, and by then she was debating whether or not it would be worth going the second half of the school day. After a while she decided she had better go, since she didn't want to have to do make-up work. She was also craving interaction. She didn't have a roommate, so she was all alone in her little studio apartment.

It took Lucy nearly twice as long as normal to get ready for school, and by the time she got out the door it was nearly lunchtime. No one stopped her when she walked in late, which surprised her until she saw the woman from yesterday smiling at her, the one who had handed her the phone. Obviously she had no idea why lucy had been so upset yesterday, but it made her feel good knowing somebody recognized her struggles.

After a quick trip to her locker, Lucy headed down to the cafeteria. She didn't bother getting a lunch, as she wasn't hungry, and forced a small smile as she approached the table.

Wendy was the first to notice her. "Lucy!" she called out happily. "You made it after all!"

All conversation ceased at the table. Natsu even stopped fighting with Gajeel for a moment to give her a blinding white grin. "Welcome back, Lucy!" he greeted. "Good to see you're not still upset."

Levy glared at Natsu, and Lucy frowned at him. "Hey, Natsu?" she asked.

"What?"

"Shut up." Lucy plopped down next to Levy, somewhat miffed. It as too soon to talk about that. Then again, it felt like it would always be too soon. It wasn't every day your dad dies because you refused to talk to him. Hers was a unique situation and she didn't feel like discussing it openly.

Lucy had to cut off her thoughts there when she felt tears threaten to spill again, and sat in silence for a moment until Loke broke the silence. "Hey, Lucy, I was wondering if you wanted to go somewhe-ouch!"

Lucy looked up in surprise, not at Loke's supposed attempt to ask her out, but because of his cry of pain. Natsu had stomped on Loke's foot under the table and was now violently digging his heel in.

Loke yanked his foot back and winced. "What was that for!?" he demanded, scowling distastefully at Natsu as he rubbed his aching foot.

Natsu grinned wickedly. "I just wanted to hear you scream," he replied, but Lucy could sense something happening between them that she didn't understand. Some kind of inside joke, or a secret? She wasn't sure, and she wasn't sure she wanted to find out.

"What were you saying, Loke?" Lucy asked, but Loke just shook his head.

"Forget it," he muttered crossly, and stabbed at his vegetables viciously with one of the school's plastic forks.

Lucy stared at him for a moment, then shrugged, figuring it would be better to leave him be. "I swear, Natsu, if Loke comes to school tomorrow with a broken foot..."

There wasn't a lot of heart behind her words, but they had the desired effect. Natsu blanched, his eyes widening. No one could figure out why Lucy was able to scare the guys so much. Levy said the only other person who could do that was Erza, and sometimes Wendy when she was upset. Natsu shook his head rapidly. "I assure you, the most he got is some soreness, maybe a sprain," he said quickly, smiling nervously at her. Lucy just rolled her eyes and poked at her peas distastefully. Why did she get these in the first place if she didn't like them?

"I'm telling you, he likes you!" Levy insisted.

Lucy sighed and closed her locker, glaring lightly at Levy. "Natsu does not like me. He's a boy, that's what boys do," she replied.

Levy shook her head. "Loke was going to ask you out," she began, and Lucy braced heraelf for a long explanation. "But Natsu stopped him because he didn't want Loke to ask you out because he likes you!"

Lucy groaned and ran a hand through her hair, pushing her bangs from her eyes. "I've known Natsu for a total of what, like twenty hours or something like that? We've been living across town from each other for eleven years and he hasn't bothered to talk to me once. Even if he did like me, which he doesn't, I wouldn't date him in a million years." she paused, then a sad look came over her and her voice lowered. "You know the other reason."

Levy groaned. "Come on Lucy, put him behind you!" she snapped, frowning at her friend. "It's been three months since you two dated. _Get over it._"

"I can't!" Lucy slammed her locker angrily. "You know I can't! Dan and I dated for two entire years. I…" her voice trailed off, and the clenched her jaw. "I thought I was in love with him. I thought he was the one." she sighed heavily and shook her head. "I don't want to go through that again."

Levy frowned sadly. "You don't have too," she insisted, but Lucy waved her hand in finality.

"Nope, I'm done talking about this," she replied flatly, balancing her books on her hip. "Let's just go to class, okay?"

Levy pressed her lips together but nodded. "Alright, but don't think this is the end of this discussion," she replied, following after her friend.

Lucy ignored her comment and continued on to class. The day was more or less normal, though Lucy just couldn't get used to the fact that the guys were sitting with her group of girls at lunchtime now. It must be something to do with Levy and Gajeel, and now Gray and Juvia were together. She was kind of hoping her friends wouldn't hook up like this, because she's just end up as a third wheel, but then she noticed Erza making goo-goo eyes at Jellal. She groaned and rested her chin on her hands, though she couldn't help but smile at the usually serious girl's expression.

"Erza, you alright?" she asked in a knowing tone.

Erza's head snapped up and she blinked, as if she was awakening from a trance. Then her face went scarlet and she nodded. "Fine," she replied, though her voice was shaky.

Lucy chuckled lightly and went back to her lunch. Levy was looking at her curiously, a questioning expression on her face, but everyone else seemed to be in their own world. She hummed softly to herself, a sound that was drowned out in the tumult of voices around her.

The rest of the day was pretty good. Nothing happened, everything was normal, just the way Lucy liked it. She returned home and went right to her bed, leaving her homework abandoned on the kitchen table. I'll do it later, she decided, sighing contentedly. After a moment of peace, she went to her laptop and opened it, checking her IM messages. She opened a new message from Levy and read it.

_**LevyMcGarden123:**__ Get over it._

Lucy groaned, irritated. Why don't you leave me alone? she shouted angrily in her mind, even though she knew no one would hear her or answer her.

_**Lucy3filia:**__ I don't want to have this conversation._

_**LevyMcGarden123:**__ Stop running away from your problems like a child! You can't go your whole life like this!_

_**Lucy3filia:**__ I can sure try._

It made Lucy angry that Levy was acting like this. She frowned deeply and considered logging off then and there, but Levy replied too quickly for her to leave.

_**LevyMcGarden123:**__ If you would just look around, you'd know that there were a lot of guys way better than Dan who would be happy to date you, Loke, for example, or Natsu._

Natsu again. Lucy was starting to hate that name. How long would it take Levy to realize that she not interested in Natsu, or in Loke, for that matter.

_**Lucy3filia:**__ I don't like either of them, and I'm not ready to date. Stop trying to hook me up when I don't want it!_

_**LevyMcGarden123:**__ You can't run away from your problems, Lucy. Oppurtunity is knocking, and if you don't open the door someone's going to slam it in your face._

Lucy groaned again. Levy and her God forsaken analogies. What does that even mean, she wondered. If you don't open the door, how will someone slam it on you? It didn't matter to her, though. She was about ready to kill Levy. Before she had time to reply, however, a new message popped up.

_**FireDragonNatsu:**__ Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to talk._

Lucy frowned. She didn't remember giving Natsu her IM address.

_**Lucy3filia:**__ How did you get my IM?_

_**FireDragonNatsu:**__ Levy gave it to me._

Lucy made a mental note to kill Levy the next time she saw her.

_**Lucy3filia:**__ Do you need something? Because if not, I'm trying to plot Levy's demise at the moment._

Maybe she shouldn't have said that. Good thing Natsu could take a joke.

_**FireDragonNatsu:**__ Well, I had a question for you. There's this new cafe opening up, and I was wondering if you wanted to go with me, like a date._

Well that was unexpected. Lucy blinked at her screen in surprise. Natsu, asking her out? It seemed almost foreign to her. Then she clenched her teeth and wrote back.

_**Lucy3filia:**__ Sorry, no can do._

_**FireDragonNatsu:**__ How come?_

_**Lucy3filia:**__ I don't date. Bad memories, too much drama, distracting, etc. Besides, I'm not interested in you like that._

That was a low blow, Lucy knew, rejecting Natsu straight off like that, but she didn't want to lead him on, especially when she was sure he wouldn't be interested in her like that next week.

_**FireDragonNatsu:**__ Come on Lucy, it's just a date. It's not like I'm asking you to be my girlfriend._

Lucy scowled at the message. Maybe not, but after a date, that was what came next. She was done talking to people about relationships. She closed her laptop and laid down on her bed, covering her eyes with her hands and frowning at the ceiling. After about five minutes of silence, her laptop dinged, the sound that signalled another IM message. After another two minutes of debating actually looking at the message, she opened her laptop again.

_**FireDragonNatsu:**__ Sorry if I upset you._

Lucy stared at the message for a moment, then cracked the tiniest of smiles and shook her head. Seems Natsu had a sensitive side after all.

* * *

Short story: He Spoke!

Lucy walked up to the lunch table and plopped down in her usual spot between Levy and Wendy. Since the boys and girls had merged into one group, the girls had taken to one side of the table and the boys the other. "Hey guys," she greeted.

Natsu waved enthusiastically at her, while Jellal raised a hand in greeting. "Hello," he said back.

Lucy smiled at him, but Natsu and the other guys were staring at Jellal in surprise.

Gray's eyes widened. "He spoke!" he whisper-yelled to Natsu.

Jellal didn't reply just went back to his meal. Lucy eyed the boys suspiciously. "Of course he apoke. Why wouldn't he?" she asked.

Gray just shook his head. "Never mind," he said quickly. Lucy was quite confused.

Gray, Natsu and Loke huddled together, their voices muffled whispers. Gajeel would have joined as well, but he couldn't be bothered.

"Why does he talk to Lucy and no one else?" Natsu wondered.

Loke shrugged. "Maybe he doesn't like talking? I always thought he was a mute."

"Me too," Gray added, then grinned determinedly. "We need to get Jellal to talk to us," he decided. The other two boys nodded and they began making plots to get Jellal to speak.

"Plan A: Ask him questions," Natsu said, and the three boys broke their huddle.

Lucy arched an eyebrow at them curiously. "What in the world were you three talking about?" she asked.

Natsu completely ignored Lucy and turned to Jellal. "Jellal, do you have any siblings?" he asked. Jellal just shook his head and said nothing.

Gray pushed Natsu aside. "Let me try! Jellal, what's your favorite color?" he asked.

Jellal thought or a moment, then shrugged. Gray muttered a curse under his breath and Loke too his place.

"Jellal, do you have a girlfriend?" he asked with a smirk. Again a shake of the head no.

Loke winked in Erza's direction before he sat back. Then he frowned, his plan hadn't worked after all.

"Guys, stop hounding Jellal with questions," Lucy scolded them.

Jellal shrugged. "It's alright, I don't mind questions," he replied.

Natsu looked ready to flip a table, but instead he huddled together with Gray and Loke again. "It's like he only talks to Lucy," he whispered. The two nodded agreement.

"We need a new plan," he whispered.

Gray thought for a moment before grinning. "Plan B: Annoy the living hell out of him."

Natsu leaned over Jellal's shoulder, poking the back of his neck. "Hey, Jellal, what're you eating?" he asked. When there was no response, he persisted. "Hey, Jellal, Jellal, whatcha eating?"

Plan B was failing miserably. Not only did jellal not answer, he entirely ignored Natsu's attempts. Natsu frowned, irritated, and the three huddled up again.

This time Loke came out straight forward. "Plan C: We beg. There's no other choice."

Gray nodded and the three broke their huddle. Gray turned to Jellal. "Come on, man, talk to me!" he begged.

Jellal blinked at Gray and then went back to his food.

Loke tried next. "Jellal, please say something! You're killing me!"

Lucy shook her head. "That's just embarrassing," she said, but she was trying hard not to laugh.

"I think it's fun," Jellal replied with his own small grin.

Natsu shouldered his way between Gray and Loke. "Jellal, how come you only talk to Lucy?" he asked, pouting in frustration.

Jellal blinked at Natsu, unphased. "I talk to people besides Lucy. I just only talk to people I can have an intelligent conversation with."

It took about thirty seconds for this to sink in before all three of them realized what the implication was.

Natsu groaned and let his head fall onto the table. Gray looked baffled, while Loke stood up and walked away quietly. Gajeel was laughing his head off.


	8. Friendships and Unavoidable Situations

**This is a longer-than-normal chapter, mostly because I couldn't figure out a place to stop. A lot of stuff happens, dramatic stuff, so pay attention! I hope you guys enjoy! I'm glad people liked my short story. Also, sorry Keeping Secrets is taking so long to update, I've finally made a breakthrough regarding plotline, so I should be updating it within the next week. However, my phone is broken and I don't know when I'll get it back, so it may be longer. Anyway, I promised some shout-outs to people who reviewed, so here goes:**

**The May Waters: Thank you! I'm glad you liked it! Thanks for pointing out my mistake, I revised it. Also, thanks for recommending it! I appreciate that people like my fic so much ^^**

**PottsboroGirlie: Haha, yup c:**

** -roo: I love it too c;**

**skelekc: Thanks! I like to think of Jellal as the silent type.**

**Cana Alberona: Thanks!**

**JuliannaCherries: Haha, yes they did! Lucy is a puzzle, you never know what she'll do next.**

* * *

The following day was a Friday. Lucy woke up early and was ready for school early. She hung around her house, doing various little chores, until it was time to go. She walked to the school, but strangely Levy wasn't there to meet her. Frowning, Lucy pulled out her phone and texted Levy.

_Where are you?_ - Lucy

After a moment of waiting Lucy pocketed her phone and went to her locker. It wasn't until she was halfway to first period that her phone vibrated, signaling Levy's reply. Lucy pulled her phone out and read the text.

_Woke up late,_ it said. _Be there in an hour. __Get my homework for me._

Lucy sighed. Without Levy, who would she talk too? She had a lot on her mind today, especially thoughts concerning a certain pink-haired gangster. She knew she couldn't do anything, though, so she sighed and told herself to be an optimist.

Lucy chatted with Gajeel and Jellal during first period since there was no one else to talk to even with Levy here. She got along particularly well with these two for some reason.

Second period was a problem, though. No Levy meant no company for her, and it also meant Natsu. The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife, and Lucy could hardly focus on her history work. Plus she was pretty sure Natsu was staring at her. He confronted her after class anyway, so it was pointless to ignore him.

Natsu grabbed Lucy's shoulder lightly when she tried to leave. "Lucy, wait!" he called, spinning her around to face him. "...We need to talk."

Lucy sighed. The situation was unavoidable. "Alright, shoot," she said.

Natsu was silent for a moment before speaking. "Look, just forget about yesterday," he said finally. "I didn't know you didn't date, but I still want to be friends."

Lucy clasped her hands together and stared down at them. "I know, I just... I'm still getting over a bad breakup, and I'm not into you like that." she paused, glancing sideways.

"Bad breakup?" Natsu repeated, arching an eyebrow at her questioningly. Sometimes he just didn't know when to shut up.

Lucy sighed, wishing she had never brought it up. "Just a guy I dated for a while. We broke up a long time ago. I just don't want to date right now."

Natsu nodded and released her shoulders. "So... are we cool? Can we still be friends?"

Lucy pressed her lips together and groaned. "How in the world did you get on my good side?" she wondered out loud.

Natsu grinned and did a little victory dance. "Easy, I'm irresistible," he answered smugly.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "I think there's a flaw in your system, because I'm resisting you right now," she said, then turned brusquely on her heels and started to walk away, towards her next class.

"See you at lunch!" Natsu called after her. Lucy raised a hand in a half-hearted farewell as she turned the corner. She had to force the blush on her cheeks down. It was nice that Natsu considered her feelings, but that didn't make up for all his mistakes, like the fact that he ignored her for eleven years and then had the nerve to insult Lisanna at her favorite ice cream place. Lucy shook her head briskly and continued onto her class.

Lucy was awoken from her mid-Geometry nap by the ringing of the school bell. Her eyes blinked open and she yawned, stretching. Perhaps pulling an all-nighter and then waking up an hour earlier than normal wasn't a very good idea. Neither was living off of two hours of sleep.

Lucy gathered up her stuff and forced herself to wake up before leaving the classroom, making a mental note to copy Erza's or Wendy's Geometry notes. She made her way towards the cafeteria for lunch, pausing at her locker to store her supplies inside before heading to lunch.

Lucy hummed to herself softly as she shut her locker, a sound that turned into a squeak of surprise as she turned and found herself face-to-face with the guy she least wanted to see.

"Dan?" she whispered, biting her lip. The red-haired boy smiled down at her.

"Hey, Lucy," he said softly. "I know you don't want to see me, but I need to talk to you," he said, and his kind expression faded to a troubled one.

Lucy clenched her teeth, hardening her gaze, but he was close, too close for her liking. "About what?" she asked warily, avoiding her ex's eyes.

Dan ran a hand through his hair. He looked nervous, which confused Lucy. "I miss you," he said finally. "I want to get back together."

Lucy's mouth opened in a silent question, then closed again. She swallowed, looking very uncomfortable. "Dan..." she murmured. "You-"

"I know," Dan cut her off. "I caused you a lot of pain before. But I made a mistake. I love you, Lucy. Don't you love me back?" he gazed down at Lucy, who reluctantly raised her head to look into his eyes. Her eyes flicked back and forth between his, searching for something.

"It's not there," she whispered, so softly not even Dan could make it out at such a close distance.

Dan blinked at Lucy, curious. "What did you say?" he asked, tilting his head ever-so-slightly.

Lucy took a deep breath, attempting to calm her beating heart. "I can't," she said, looking down.

Dan narrowed his eyes slightly at her. "Can't do what?" he coaxed.

"I can't love you anymore!" Lucy cried, making Dan jump. There were tears in the blond's eyes. "We dated for two years, then you broke up with me over some stupid crush, or fling, or whatever the hell that was, then you utterly ignored me for almost four months! Now you just expect me to take you back!? What are you trying to do to my head?!"

"Lucy-" Dan reached out to touch Lucy's arm, but she slapped it away, hard enough to leave a bright red mark. Dan yelped and snatched his hand back in surprise.

"Leave me alone!" Lucy screamed, and tried to run, but Dan grabbed her shoulder and trapped her against the lockers, one arm on either side of her. he yelled over her sobs. m sorry, Lucy, Im sorry

Lucy took a deep breath. What the heck was that explosion for? "Just leave me alone..." she whimpered, ducking her head.

Dan opened his mouth again and then closed it, biting his lip. He took a step back from Lucy. "I'm sorry," he said once more, then turned and shuffled away, down the hall and around the corner.

It wasn't until then that Lucy realized how much she was shaking. She sank to the ground and hugged her knees to her chest, resting her forehead on her knees. She wanted to cry, but she didn't. She was beyond tears at this point and she felt only anger. But before she had time to act on these feelings she heard someone calling her name.

"Lucy!" Lucy lifted her head warily and spotted Natsu, along with Levy and Wendy. Natsu was the one who had called her. "There you are!" he called. "You didn't show up at lunch, so we came to find you."

This was another one of those moments where Lucy wondered how on earth she obtained such great friends. "Sorry, I just needed some space. I have a lot on my mind." she said, though she notedly avoided making eye contact with any of her friends.

Wendy stooped down next to Lucy. "You look like you've been crying again," she said. Lucy flinched. Again. Did they take her for some sort of crybaby?

"I'm fine, I promise," Lucy said, and gave the three a smile. "Just sorting things out."

Levy frowned deeply at Lucy, who gave her an I'll-talk-to-you-about-it-later look before standing up. "Now then, shall we go?" It was a horrible cover-up; Lucy could practically hear the heartache in her voice.

No one questioned her anymore, however, and the four returned to their table, where they were greeted by a chorus of hellos and other niceties from their friends. Lucy sat down across the table from Levy, between Gajeel and Natsu. She hadn't been sitting two minutes when her cell phone buzzed in her pocket. She frowned slightly a pulled it out, opening up a new text. It was from Levy.

_"Give me the scoop." _

Lucy sighed and began to write a message back, glancing reproachfully at Levy as she sent the message. _"Dan confronted me. He wants to get back together."_

_"Yikes,"_ Levy wrote back. _"Drop him like he's hot, even though he's not." _

Lucy growled at the message and purposefully stomped on Levy's foot underneath the table. _"Don't mess with me, I'm flipping out right now."_ she wrote, glaring at Levy.

Erza, who was sitting beside Levy, watched them with a confused expression on her face. "Are you two texting each other?" she asked.

Levy unceremoniously stuck her hand in Erza's face without looking up from her phone. "Hush, this is a private conversation," she murmured right as lucy's phone lit up with Levy's text. _"Sorry, force of habit,"_ she wrote. Levy had a habit of making things into jokes. _"But seriously, just forget about him. I know it's hard, but you have to try."_

Lucy sighed and began to type her reply. Then she paused and deleted her message. _"I'll talk to you after school,"_ she wrote instead, then tucked her phone back into her pocket and refused to open it again.

"So, what's up with you guys?"

* * *

The rest of the day, Lucy forced a smile. It was easy to tell something was bothering her, but whenever someone asked her she brushed it off as fatigue or that she wasn't feeling good. By the end of the day, Natsu was seriously curious, and also a bit concerned. It wasn't like Lucy to hide something from her friends. Not unless she had a reason, anyway. He frowned as he sat in his eighth period English class and tapped his fingers restlessly on the table.

Gray sighed heavily from his spot beside Natsu. "Would you stop that God forsaken tapping?" he growled, irritated. "You're giving me a migraine."

Natsu didn't respond, or quit tapping. He just stared at the wall, his english assignment forgotten on his desk in front of him.

Gray waved a hand in front of Natsu's face. "Hello-o?" he called. "Earth to Dragneel!"

Natsu blinked in confusion and glanced at Gray, then his expression twisted into a scowl. "What do you want?" he grumbled.

At least he stopped tapping. "You've been staring at the stupid wall for almost a full ten minutes," Gray replied. "What's on your mind?"

Natsu blinked at Gray and glanced at the clock. Ten minutes. That must be a record. "Nothing that would interest you," he replied.

Gray arched an eyebrow at him questioningly. "If it can actually make you think for that long, it interests me," he said with a smirk.

Natsu rolled his eyes but didn't insult Gray back, which just made the raven-haired boy more curious. "I was just thinking about how sad Lucy looked today," Natsu said after a moment of silence.

Gray coughed into his hand, a poor disguise for a laugh. He looked up at Natsu comically. "Lucy, huh? You sure you're not imagining things? She was smiling all day," he pointed out.

Natsu nodded. "Yeah, there was something off about her, I'm sure. I think Levy noticed it too," he said, looking dejected. "But she won't talk to me."

Gray snorted. "From the way you talk about her, people would deduce you have a crush on Lucy," he said with a smirk.

Natsu shot Gray one of his deadliest glares. "Don't mess with me," he warned in a low voice. "I don't have a crush on Lucy. She's my friend, that would be weird. Besides, I've only known her a few days." he paused, looking back at the wall. "I just want to help her. She's probably still strung up about her dad."

Gray shrugged. "Whatever, man. I can't help you with that. Ask Loke, or Jellal. They probably know more about this stuff than me..." he trailed off and seemed to reconsider his words. "On second thought, don't do that. Ask one of the girls."

Natsu shrugged. "I'll talk to Wendy later," he decided, then went back to his work. Stupid English, he thought bitterly as he struggled to recall vocabulary words. Luckily the bell rang at that moment and interrupted Natsu from his thoughts. He quickly gathered his supplies and walked out of the classroom. He walked to his locker, which was on the other side of the school, and spotted Wendy there, waiting for him like she always did after school. She waved to him as he approached and gave him a bright smile.

Nats waved back and went to open his locker. "Hey," he greeted. "How was school?"

"Fine," Wendy replied. "Somehow I managed to make it through the day with only two papercuts to worry about." she giggled, making Natsu smile. His step-sister was notorious for her tendency to injure herself in the most unique ways. A few paper cuts was nothing compared to what she had gotten before.

"Nothing broken?" Natsu teased, closing his locker and slinging his backpack over one shoulder.

Wendy pouted and shoved him, which of course didn't do anything. Natsu was a full head and half taller than she was and he was at least three times sturdier. He chuckled at her attempts and started towards the school's exit, where the two would proceed to walk home.

After a moment of silence, Natsu cleared his throat. "Endy, I've been meaning to ask you; what do you do when a girl is acting strange but you don't want to make her angry?" he glanced down at his step-sister, who looked up at him in surprise.

"Is this about Lucy?" she asked. Natsu flinched. So much for keeping it a secret. He gave a small nod, and Wendy sighed. "I know if I tell you to leave her alone, you won't, so try this: When you confront her, be gentle and understanding, and don't say anything stupid."

Ouch. Now that really hurt. Sure, sometimes he said things that were out of line, but it wasn't out of spite or anything. And he was certainly not an idiot. "That's a tall order," he said. "How can I be understanding if I don't even know what she's upset about?"

"Maybe you should just leave her alone."

"But then who will talk to Lucy?"

"People she likes."

When did Wendy become so blunt? Perhaps it was the fact that they were related now. "Maybe you're right..." he sighed, running a hand through his salmon-colored locks. "I just hate seeing her so down in the dumps. But I don't know how to talk to her without getting her to hate me."

Wendy looked up at Natsu with big brown eyes. "Well, you did ignore her for eleven years," she pointed out. "She was probably offended."

"I didn't ignore her!" Natsu protested. "We just never really talked to each other. I didn't have a reason to. I didn't find her interesting."

Wendy smirked a bit at his words. "Do you find her interesting now?" she asked slyly.

Natsu stared down at Wendy, then looked away sharply. Even though she couldn't see his face, she could tell he was blushing. "Maybe," he mumbled.

Wendy giggled. "Aw, my big brother is finally growing up," she teased, smiling.

Natau smirked down at Wendy. "I may be childish, but I can do this!" He grabbed Wendy by the waist and threw her over his shoulder. Wendy screamed in protest and then burst into raucous laughter. They were like that the rest of the way home.


	9. Mysteries and Car Rides

**Chapter Nine! This now officially has more chapters than my first fanfiction. I hope you guys enjoy! There's a lot of important stuff in this chapter, so pay attention. Also, beware the Gale fluffiness :3 Also some one-sided Nalu fluff. Please read and review! Thanks to everyone who favorited this and my other stuff! Don't be afraid to tell me what you really think either, constructive criticism is important to me to help me become a better writer. Thanks guys, I love you!**

**Extra long chapter today :3 And now, shout-out to Cana Alberona for reviewing. Yes, slowly but surely, Natsu is warming up to lucy c;**

* * *

Lucy sighed and poked at her food distastefully. She didn't like it; it was fake-tasting and had little distinguishable flavor. At least it was sustenance. She stuck a spoonful of red jell-o into her mouth and glanced up at her friends. they were oddly quiet today, even if it was a Wednesday. Natsu chatted with Gray and Gajeel at the end of the table. It was the quietest she'd ever heard him. Erza was silent, as were Loke and Jellal, and Levy and Wendy were making conversation across from them.

Lucy turned to Erza, bored and wanting someone to talk too. "How come everyone's so quiet and serious today?" she asked. "I haven't heard Loke try any pick-up lines on anyone yet and Gray still has all his clothes on." The raven-haired boy had an odd stripping habit that no one understood.

Erza looked up from her food. "You haven't heard yet?" she asked in surprise. "A couple of boys were attacked this morning. They were a year older than us, but the guys knew them pretty well. They're in the hospital with knife wounds. They were pretty beat up."

Lucy's eyes widened. "Attacked? By who? Who were the boys?" she asked, a hundred questions spinning in her head. She'd never heard of an incident like this before.

"Sting Eucliffe and Rogue Cheney," Erza replied, setting her fork down. "No one knows who attacked them. They're still unconscious, as far as I know. They must have been pretty strong, though. Sting and Rogue are hardcore athletes. Strong enough to take on two guys at once, knives or not." she shrugged slightly and tucked a strand of red hair behind her ear. "Natsu's been talking about going to find them, but I talked him out of his idiocy." she shook her head lightly.

The corners of Lucy's mouth twitched in amusement, although she was still hung up on the fact that two high school aged kids were assaulted in her hometown. She had always seen Magnolia as a social safe haven, where nothing ever went wrong. "How are the boys doing?" she asked.

"They'll be fine in a week or so," Erza answered. "They had some deep wounds, but nothing life-threatening. It seems Sting and Rogue managed to chase off their assailants before they were done in."

Done in. It made it sound like the culprit or culprits were out for lives. Lucy frowned in thought.

"We were planning to visit them after school," Erza went on, interrupting Lucy's train of thought. "You can come with us if you want." she glanced at Lucy expectantly.

Lucy shrugged. "I guess it wouldn't hurt," she replied. "It sounds better than sitting around at home worrying." she was just a natural worrier.

Erza sighed softly. Lucy seemed more like her old self today, or at least at this moment. The scarlet-haired girl, like many of the girls who had known Lucy a long time, had noticed Lucy's odd behavior the previous day. She still looked like she was forcing a smile and she stared off into space sometimes with a dejected look on her face, but she laughed more and talked more than the past day, and seemed more upbeat. "You can meet us all after school today. Gajeel offered to drive us all."

"Gajeel can drive?" Lucy asked incredulously. "I thought his motion sickness was so bad he couldn't even ride an elevator." Just the thought was amusing. She remembered Levy telling her the tale.

Erza chuckled. "He has a personalized medication for that," she said humorously. "I don't know what it is with him and vehicles. Natsu's the same way."

Lucy smiled, a genuine smile. it was a rare occurrence these days, what with her father's death and whatever else might be bothering her. "You don't say," she mused. "Now I know what my payback will be the next time he says something stupid." she grinned wickedly.

Levy glanced at Lucy out of the corner of her eye. True to her word, she and Lucy had discussed her friend's grievances. Levy was ready to pull out Dan's tongue and shove it down his stupid throat. She turned and looked fully at Lucy. "Lucy, I promise Gajeel's driving is safe," she said, smiling in amusement. "He only crashed the car once, and that was because Natsu was spamming his phone with text messages."

Lucy laughed and flashed a glance at Natsu. It was just like him to try something like that.

"They were all insults," Levy added, which only made Lucy laugh harder. She raised her hand to brush tears from her eyes as she settled down.

"Oh my gosh, I can't believe he crashed because of it," she cried. "Alright, I believe you. I'll meet you guys at the main entrance after school." Right as she finished her sentence, the school bell rang, signaling the group that they should make their way to their next class. Lucy stood and threw away her trash from lunch, heading to her Health class.

* * *

Lucy was quite satisfied at the end of class. She and Natsu received a B+ on their project, despite Lucy's fear of getting a failing grade for it. She didn't believe it would be exaggerating if you figured this was Natsu's first B.

Lucy sighed and clasped her hands behind her head as she made her way down the hall, her backpack slung over her shoulders. She was on her way to meet Erza and the others. She hummed lightly to herself as she walked down the hall, only pausing when someone called to her.\

"Lucy!" She spotted Natsu at the end of the hall, waving frantically to her. She rolled her eyes but couldn't help cracking a grin at his presumptuous behavior. She made her way over to him, figuring if she ignored him he would only follow her anyway.

Natsu waited at the end of the hall until she reached him, grinning at her. "Hey, are you coming with us to see Sting and Rogue?" he asked.

Lucy nodded. "I figured I had nothing better to do, and I haven't met them yet," she replied, walking down the hall towards the commons. From there it was short walk down another hallway before she reached the main entrance.

"Great!" Natsu said, jumping lightly on his feet. Where in the world did he get all this energy? "I know Gajeel, Gray and Loke are coming, Jellal can't. Erza, Levy Wendy and Juvia are also coming.

Juvia. Lucy remembered her from one of her classes. "Is she part of the group too?" she asked.

Natsu nodded. "Only because of Gray," he answered, and smirked. "She's absolutely obsessed with him. It's actually really hilarious. I'm pretty sure Gray likes her back too."

Lucy giggled. She didn't know the blue-haired girl personally, but she knew Juvia was a friend of Erza's and Wendy's. "Cool, sounds fun," she said. "We should-" she was about to say hurry up, but something else caught her eye. She glanced to the side and spotted someone sitting the commons, a shock of red hair covering his face. Lucy sucked in a breath and grabbed Natsu's arm before he could enter. "Let's go around," she said quickly, tugging on his arm.

Natsu glanced back at Lucy in surprise. "What are you talking about, we can see the entrance!" he argued, pointing to where you could see the front doors. The others were probably all there already, waiting for them.

Lucy bit her bottom lip. "Please, just listen to me?" she practically begged, pulling Natsu back forcefully.

Natsu yelped at Lucy yanked on his arm and finally caved, allowing Lucy to half-drag him back and around the corner before Dan could spot them. "What was that about?" he demanded as soon as they were out of sight of the red-haired man.

"Nothing, I just didn't want to talk to that guy," Lucy replied, refusing to turn and look at Natsu.

Natsu ran a hand through his hair. "Dan? Why not? He's a nice guy, he won't hurt you."

Lucy didn't reply, but her expression darkened. "I don't want to talk about it," she said quickly. "Let's just go." Before Natsu had a chance to reply, Lucy walked around the corner. Right now all she cared about was getting out of this school.

Natsu followed behind her half-heartedly, his mouth turned down in a frown as he contemplated her actions. What was up with that? He knew Dan Straight. Sure, he was a little… strange, but it's not like he was going to attack anyone. Well, probably not. He decided it better not to ask her, however, and followed behind her until they had made the full turn around the common area of the school and emerged in the main lobby.

"We're here!" Lucy called. Natsu glanced at her uncertainly. Surely her memory wasn't so bad that she already forgot? He just shook his head lightly and smiled at the group.

Erza sighed, relaxing her tense stance slightly. "There you are!" she cried. "We were about to leave you behind! What took you so long?"

"My locker was sticking," Lucy said quickly. Natsu had to commend her on her ability to lie. If he hadn't known better, he would have believed her.

Levy nodded. "Well, we're all here, so let's go!" she chirped, jumping excitedly. "It's been so long since I've seen Sting and Rogue. I hope they're awake by now."

Gajeel jerked his head to the doors. "Alright, my car is the black van. Don't ask why. Driver's seat and shotgun are claimed already, the rest of you, knock yourselves out."

Immediately it was like a stampede. Everyone shot out the door, leaving Lucy in the dust. "Eh?" she cried in surprise. "What was that about? Everyone just ran out."

Levy giggled. "I forgot, you haven't known the guys very long," she said with an apologetic glance. "There are seven seats in the van and nine people, so two have to sit in the trunk. I get past the rule because Gajeel loves me." she hugged Gajeel's arm, smiling up at him.

Gajeel blushed and rubbed his head. "Oi, you know how I feel about hugging," he muttered. Levy just giggled. "Come on, let's go!" she cheered, pulling Gajeel out the door.

Lucy giggled to herself. "Well, I guess I get the trunk, then," she said to herself, heading out the door.

It wasn't hard to find Gajeel's van. Everyone was swarming around it, battling for seats. By the time she made it to the car, however, all the seats were taken. She pouted and crossed her arms, even though she had been expecting this. "Aw, come on, guys!"

Erza shrugged. "Sorry, Lucy, try harder next time," she said simply. How blunt.

"First come, first serve!" Gray agreed. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get a seat next time."

Lucy shrugged nonchalantly and walked to the back of the car. She peered inside, spotting a very cross-looking Natsu huddled inside. She laughed lightly at his child-like appearance. "Got stuck with the trunk?" she teased.

Natsu looked up at her, pouting. "Don't laugh, you get the punishment, too," he retorted.

"But unlike you, I don't care," Lucy pointed out, climbing inside and leaning her back against the opposite side of Natsu. There was barely enough space for the two of them, and their legs were bent in the confined space.

"You will once we get going," Natsu said seriously. "Last time I sat here I almost got dumped out the back because someone forgot to close the door all the way!" he shouted the last part loudly. There was a chorus of laughter from the people sitting up front.

Lucy giggled and glanced up as the back of the van was opened and Gajeel peered inside, scowling at Natsu. "That was your own stupid fault, dumbass!" he growled, and smacked Natsu upside the head before slamming the door shut again, making sure it clicked into place before climbing into the front seat again.

Natsu yelped and rubbed the back of his head. "Great, I'm in for it now. He'll probably run over every speed bump in town just to jack me up."

"It's your fault for provoking him," Lucy answered. "And if he does, I'm coming after you too."

Natsu glanced at Lucy comically. "Like you could do anything to me," he snorted.

Lucy narrowed her eyes at Natsu. "Back to making sexist jokes, I see," she mused. "I'll get you when you least expect it and make you eat those words."

"You can try!" Natsu replied, a grin spreading across his face. This was a challenge, and Natsu was determined not to lose.

"Stop flirting back there!" Gray called, effectively silencing the two bickering teenagers. "Is the door shut?"

"I told you, I shut it!" Gajeel yelled, and the car burst into laughter again.

Lucy laughed along with them. "It's shut!" she assured him.

"We were not flirting!" Natsu added, crossing his arms. "Lucy thinks she's stronger than me!"

Erza poked her head over the seat from where she sat in the back with Wendy and Juvia. "I'm stronger than you," she pointed out. "Why can't Lucy be?"

Natsu blanched and his face went red from embarrassment. "That's different!" he exclaimed.

"It's the same thing," Lucy replied. "I can be as strong as Erza."

Natsu shrugged in response, though he still looked as though he thought it was a joke. Erza just rolled her eyes. Natsu glanced at Lucy. "You are Erza are different, though, Erza does sports, and you don't."

Erza laughed. "Lucy and I go to Martial Arts club together every Tuesday," she said. "She may not be as good as I am, but she's certainly enough to take you down."

Natsu arched an eyebrow at her. "Martial Arts? I suppose that counts for something," he said. "I've been taking martial arts since I was a kid."

Lucy rolled her eyes at Natsu and folded her arms. "Whatever you say, oh great and powerful Natsu," she replied, her words laced with sarcasm.

"Write that down for me?" Natsu suggested. Lucy sighed and shook her head.

"I don't give out signatures."

"That doesn't even make sense!"

"Sure it does, you're just too stupid to figure it out." Lucy grinned and flipped her hair.

Natsu growled at her, but reminded himself to keep his composure, sighing and leaning against the side of the van's trunk.

"Everyone buckled up?" Gajeel called. "We're hitting the road!" Lucy felt her upper body jerk sharply towards the back of the truck and she had to put her arms out to keep from giving herself a concussion. She scooted over so she was closest to the door of the trunk and slid her legs down so they were resting next to Natsu. She sighed softly and folded her hands in her lap.

Natsu really wanted to know why she had reacted to Dan so weirdly earlier, but reminded himself not to be rude. Getting kicked in the head several times by Erza must have altered his senses somehow, if he was worried about being rude. Plus, he didn't want to upset Lucy by bringing up what seemed to be a sensitive subject. He glanced across the small width of the van's trunk at Lucy. She was craning her neck up to look out the back window of the vehicle. She brushed a strand of hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear. Natsu smiled a bit at this. _Cute._

As soon as he thought it, he regretted it. Natsu shook his head forcefully, trying to keep the blush from creeping onto his cheeks. She was cute, but she was his friend. Plus, she wasn't interested in a relationship. And then there was that other thing… Natsu frowned slightly and looked down at his hand, flat on the ground beside him. He curled his fingers over the rough carpet until they formed a fist. No, there was no way he could tell her about that yet.

Lucy looked down from the window, glancing at Natsu. Her eyebrows furrowed in concern when she spotted his melancholy expression. "Natsu? Are you alright?" she asked.

Natsu jerked his head up in surprise and forced a smile. "Yeah, fine," he replied, doing his best to sound cheerful. "I'm just… worried." it wasn't exactly a lie, he was worried.

"Erza said Sting and Rogue are fine," Lucy reminded him, and Natsu resisted the urge to flinch. That wasn't what he was worried about, but he dared not correct her.

Lucy looked like she wanted to say more, but the van suddenly braked hard and both Lucy and Natsu were flung towards the back door. Lucy gasped in surprise and rubbed the back of her head, scowling. "What the hell was that?" she yelled angrily.

"That was for Natsu!" Gajeel called back. "Sorry 'bout that! You can open the back door yourself, we're here!"

Lucy grumbled under her breath and pushed the back door open, stepping out and stretching briefly. She sighed and crossed her arms, kicking at the ground as the others emerged from the van and huddled in a group at the back of the car.

Gajeel started walking towards the building and gestured for the group to follow him, heading towards the building that was unmistakably the hospital. Lucy hung back for a moment, walking at the back of the group behind Natsu. After a little while of walking, a sudden grin crossed her face and she tensed.

"Lucy Kick!" she cried, kicking Natsu hard in the back of the head. The salmon-haired boy yelped in surprise and tumbled forward, managing to catch himself on his hands before he completely face-planted.

"What was that for!?" he demanded, spinning around to face Lucy.

Lucy was laughing so hard by now she was crying. It took her moment, but she managed to calm down enough to speak. "I told you I would make you eat your words!"


	10. Discoveries and Injuries

**Chapter ten! Yaaaaaay! I've finally reached double digits! I must say, I love this chapter, but mostly the ending. So much Nalu c; I hope you guys love it as much as I do! Please read and review, and support my other two stories as well, especially my newest one, Seeker of the Blue Keys. Thanks to everyone who reviewed/favorited/followed this story! You guys are the best! 3**

**KatPhish: Thank you so much! I'm glad to hear that you enjoy my writing! I do my best to stay grammatically correct xD**

**Cana Alberona: Thanks for supporting my fic! Good guess, but no, it wasn't Dan. I don't want him to be too much of a villain lol. Also, Jellal couldn't go because I decided Gajeel didn't have enough seats xD He was off doing Jellal stuff.**

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"I can't believe you got beaten by a girl!" Gajeel laughed as the group entered the hospital. Lucy couldn't help but feel smug at her victory.

Natsu's face was red with anger. "She didn't beat me, she took me by surprise!" he insisted, shoving the notably much larger man enough to make him stumble a few steps.

Gajeel smirked at Natsu. "I didn't see you fighting back, Princess," he pointed out, crossing his arms and lifting his chin.

Natsu growled and began yelling obscenities at Gajeel. Lucy rolled her eyes and glanced back at where the others were trailing behind. Levy and Juvia were deep in conversation. From the look on Juvia's face, Lucy guessed Levy was giving her tips on how to get Gray to notice her. She smiled helplessly at her friends and walked up to the front desk, where a dark-haired woman was sitting taking calls.

Gray walked past her, taking the lead since Gajeel was a little… preoccupied. "We're here to see Sting Eucliffe and Rogue Cheney," he told her.

The woman glanced up, nodding. "What's your relationship to the patients?" she asked. Relationship? Since when did you have to be related to someone to visit them?

"Friends from school," Gray answered. Lucy's confused look disappeared. The receptionist nodded again and scanned the paper in front of her, pointing down the hall without looking up. "Room Eighteen," she said. "Visiting hours end at six in the evening for people not related to the patient."

Gray thanked the receptionist and glanced at his watch. "It's nearly four now. We have plenty of time," he said, probably to Lucy since no one else was listening. She turned to the gang. Natsu and Gajeel had started an argument, drawing the attention of passers-by, and Erza made her way forward to stop them, pushing herself between them. Levy and Juvia were still talking, but Loke had joined their conversation now and was talking to Juvia, listing something on his fingers. Lucy rolled her eyes and reminded herself to talk to Juvia later. Any advice Loke gave her was sure to be awful. She cupped her mouth with her hands and called out to them, "Hurry up, you slackers, or we'll leave you behind!"

That seemed to catch everyone's attention. Natsu let go of Gajeel's hair and crossed his arms. He still looked frustrated and Gajeel was wearing the results of their battle in a triumphant smirk. Erza flashed me a grateful look and the three gossipers stopped their conversation and turned their attention to me. Lucy waved for them to follow and headed down the hall, not waiting to see if anyone was following her.

Lucy did glance back once to make sure they were actually coming and saw they were following close behind. She smiled faintly at her friends and glanced at the room numbers, walking past several rooms until she found number eighteen. She motioned for the others to come before walking in, seeing as she was the stranger here.

Gray took the lead from there, walking inside with a grin on his face. "Sting? Rogue? You guys awake?" he called. Lucy glanced around the corner in time to see the sheets on the bed shiver. A blond-haired man lifted his head up and glanced at Gray from across the room before lifting a hand in welcome.

"Hey, Gray," the man called, smiling faintly. He looked exhausted, like he was just waking up, though it seemed the opposite. The man's eyes were bright and lively, even if the rest of him wasn't.

Gray turned and beckoned for the others to enter before approaching the bed, bumping fists with the blonde before turning to Lucy. "Lucy, this is Sting Eucliffe. Sting, this is Lucy Heartfilia."

Sting looked startled for a moment. "New friend?" he guessed, to which Gray nodded. Sting glanced at Lucy. "Ah, I remember you. We went to middle school together," he said with a grin.

Lucy blinked at Sting. Had they? She couldn't remember. Instead she returned the smile. Her friends were now crowding around the bed, showing Sting with questions.

Sting lifted his hands in exasperation. "Woah, guys! You know Rogue's here too, right?" he arched an eyebrow comically at his friends and pointed to the identical bed in the corner. Rogue glanced at the group cooly, unfazed by the attention now on him, or the former lack thereof. He lifted a hand in greeting and leaned against the headboard of his bed, brushing his dark hair from one side of his face so that he could see.

Immediately the attention turned to Rogue. Lucy shook her head as the girls fussed over him and the guys commended him on his bravery. Finally, Erza asked the golden question; "What happened?"

Rogue glanced at Sting. Apparently he wasn't much for words. Sting slid his feet off the bed so that he was facing the group and pushed himself to a sitting position, wincing slightly. I noticed the bandaged covering his arms and especially the one on his neck. It made Lucy feel sick to think someone had tried to kill them. He had a few uncovered cuts on his cheek that seemed small, probably why they had nothing on them. He ran a bandaged hand through his hair, wincing once more. He was obviously still in pain.

All eyes turned to Sting, waiting for the story. Sting thought for a moment, as if deciding where to start. "Well, Rogue and I were heading home after soccer practice," he began. "We always take this shortcut that no one really likes because there are a lot of hills and potholes. It's tricky, but we get home ten minutes faster.

"I got a text from someone I didn't know saying, "We're coming for you." Naturally I was surprised and very confused, seeing as I didn't recognize the number of the person texting me. Rogue got a similar text So we kept walking, keeping our eyes open for anything suspicious.

"We were about halfway home when a group of guys ambushed us, wearing heavy cloaks and hoods and scarves that covered their faces. We asked them why they were here, and they said it was revenge for what we did to them. It was like they knew us, but we couldn't see their faces, and I didn't recognize their voices. Then they jumped at us. We were outnumbered at least two to one, but their attacks were sloppy and uncoordinated, like they were expecting to beat us with sheer numbers rather than power.

"We managed to hold our own okay, but as you can probably see, we're pretty beat up," Sting finished, gesturing to his bandages. "By the time I got home, I was ready to pass out. Skiadrum nearly had a heart attack." he chuckled at the thought; Skiadrum was Sting's father, who strangely allowed his son to call him by his first name, and though he was ill, he still found time to worry about Sting.

Erza nodded in understanding. "I'm glad you two got away alright," she said. "Do you have any idea who it could have been?"

Sting shook his head. "They said something about getting revenge on us, but when I asked them about it, their leader got really angry and then they attacked. I have no idea what Rogue and I could have done to upset them enough to kill us."

Erza glanced up and looked over the group of people situated around Sting and Rogue's beds. Lucy shivered slightly under her piercing gaze. "Erza… do you have an idea?" she asked softly, glancing up at the scarlet-haired woman curiously.

Erza paused, then shook her head. "I can't think of anyone who would want to kill them," she answered.

Lucy jumped as Natsu's fist collided with the wall next to Sting's bed. He was seething, his knuckled denting the plaster on the walls. His face was distorted in a furious snarl, and in truth, he was terrifying. "Natsu…?" she whispered, her eyes widening.

"I'm going to kill them," Natsu muttered darkly, retracting his fist from the wall. His hand was bleeding badly, but he didn't seem to notice. "I'll kill the bastards that tried to hurt my friends!" he turned suddenly and stalked out of the room.

To say Lucy was stunned was an understatement. She had never seen Natsu so upset before, not even when she had embarrassed him in front of all his friends. "I'll go after him," she said quickly, jogging after him. She went around the corner and spotted an open exit. She poked her head around the corner, spotting Natsu leaning against the wall outside, frowning at the ground. His salmon-colored hair hung in front of his eyes, shielding them from view, and his arms were crossed. It was obvious by his vibe that he was still angry.

"Natsu?" she called out softly, taking a step outside. The boy jumped, seemingly surprised, and glanced up at Lucy, brushing his hair from his face. He blinked at her curiously for a second before glancing back down.

"Yeah?" he answered harshly, brushing his hair from his face. He clutched his injured hand in his good hand, and while he didn't show it, Lucy guessed it was a painful injury.

Lucy shifted on her feet uncomfortably. "Are you alright?" she asked. "Back there, with your hand…" she trailed off uncertainly, glancing at her feet. She honestly had no idea how to handle Natsu when he was in this mood. Usually he was so predictable.

Natsu gave a small nod in response. "Fine," he replied gruffly. "Just… upset." he sighed softly and let go of his bad hand, examining the injuries. Lucy approached him, peeking over his shoulder to get a good look at the injury. She had to stand on her toes to see. She winced physically when she spotted the cuts and bruises on his hand. His knuckles were red and bloodied, with bits of plaster from the wall stuck in them.

Lucy reached out tentatively and brushed the plaster away. Natsu winced at the action but didn't resist, clenching his jaw slightly. "You should take better care of yourself," she murmured, taking his hand gently and peering closer at the cuts. They seemed small, nothing serious.

Natsu shrugged in response. "I was angry," he replied, his anger diminishing a bit. "Punching the wall was a good outlet for my anger."

Lucy sighed softly. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up," she said, tugging his arm gently to get him to follow her. "The nurses can fix up your hand quickly."

"I'd rather not," Natsu answered, grimacing. "Doctors freak me out."

Lucy pouted, but was surprised that such a small thing made Natsu uncomfortable. "Well if you won't let them do it, then I will," she answered. "I'm sure there's something in Sting and Rogue's room we can use."

Natsu looked ready to argue with her, but Lucy wouldn't have it. "No excuses!" she said stubbornly. Reluctantly, Natsu allowed Lucy to half-drag him back to the room. The others were deep in conversation with Sting and Rogue, to Lucy took a seat at the back of the room and rummaged through some drawers until she found some disinfectant and bandages. She gestured for Natsu to sit and poured some of the disinfectant on a cloth.

"This will sting a little," Lucy warned before pressing the cloth onto Natsu's hand. Natsu hissed in pain and bit his lower lip, relaxing as the pain gradually subsided. Lucy pulled the rag away and began to unwrap the bandages, carefully wrapping Natsu's hand.

"Are you sure you're not a nurse?" Natsu asked, arching an eyebrow at Lucy curiously. "You definitely know what you're doing."

Lucy shrugged as she finished wrapping Natsu's hand, securing the ends and making sure it stuck. "My mother taught me basic first aid when I was little," she answered with a slightly sullen look. "It's kind of a hobby, I guess."

Natsu smiled gently at her. "Your mother sounds like a cool girl," he said. "You should introduce me sometime."

Lucy froze, biting her lip. "She's dead," she said softly, lowering her gaze. "She was sick."

Natsu's smile faded and he ran his good hand through his hair. "Aw, geez, I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"

"It's fine," Lucy interrupted, holding up her hand and lifting her gaze. She gave him a small smile. "It's been a long time, I don't mind talking about her."

Natsu gave a small sigh of relief. "That's good," he said. "For a second I was worried I upset you."

Lucy snorted. "Upset? Me?" she replied. "Please, I'm not immature like you."

Natsu grasped his chest and feigned hurt. "Och, Lucy, that stung," he joked, grinning down at her. From the sidelines, Rogue watched them, and shook his head, a faint smile gracing his lips.


	11. Confessions and Explanations

**Howdy, partners. Time for Chapter Eleven! OMG, I swear, I was crying while writing this. There's so much Lucy angst in this chapter. I don't know why I enjoy writing that. Lots of Levy angst too. Plus, the moment you've all been waiting for... but you have to read to find out! c; Thanks to everyone who followed/favorited this story! Love you guys! 3 Sadly, no reviews, but oh well. I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

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The group spent more time with Sting and Rogue than Lucy expected. By the time they were finished, there was only ten minutes before the hospital closed. This time, however, Lucy made sure to get a head start to Gajeel's truck, and claimed a seat in the back with Erza and Juvia. Poor Wendy was forced to sit in the back with Loke. The blue-haired girl took it with grace, however, and climbed in the back with Loke.

Lucy sighed and clasped her hands behind her head, smiling contentedly. Natsu and Gray had already started a fight in the two middle seats, and Gajeel was yelling at them to shut up. Life was as usual for Lucy and her friends.

"You shut up!" Natsu snapped after one of Gajeel's increasingly loud demands towards the boys to quiet down. "It's not my fault! Ice Prick started it!"

Gray scowled at Natsu, frustration clear on his face. "You're the one egging me on!" he retorted, and the two started a bicker again.

Lucy sighed and shook her head. She glanced at Erza, and they both nodded, as if exchanging thoughts without using words. Erza leaned forward so that her head was between Gray's and Natsu's seats. "Is there a problem?" she asked softly, but it seemed to do the trick. Natsu and Gray immediately stopped fighting at the sound of the fiery red-head's voice.

"Lucy!" Wendy called from the back seat. Lucy peered over the back of her chair at Wendy, who was pouting up at her, and looked irritated. "Loke's hitting on me!"

Lucy glared at Loke, who had an expression of shocked horror on his face. "You pervert!" Lucy yelled, hitting Loke upside the head. "Stop being such a playboy, and grow up!"

"Ouch!" Loke whined, holding his aching head. "Lucy, that hurt!"

Lucy narrowed her eyes threateningly at Loke. "It was supposed to!" she yelled in reply. Yup, everything was as it should be.

Levy peered over the back of her chair and called to Lucy, "Lucy, where do you live?" she called. "Gajeel will drive you home."

Lucy quickly gave Gajeel the address of her apartment, and Lucy nodded, relaying it to Gajeel. It only took a little while for Gajeel to reach the complex, and he pulled into the parking lot in front. Lucy unbuckled herself and climbed out of the car, but when she turned around to say goodbye to her friends, she saw that they were all out of the car now.

Lucy's voice faltered momentarily. She cleared her throat and glanced curiously at the group. "Is there something you need?" she asked.

Natsu grinned at her. "We're coming to check out your apartment!" he exclaimed. "It's tradition!"

Lucy frowned. "Tradition?" she repeated.

Levy nodded. "Sorry for not telling you, Lucy. It's customary for the guys to visit their new friends' house. Don't ask me why, I don't know."

Lucy groaned and face-palmed herself, but waved reluctantly for they to follow her. "It's messy," she warned. "Make sure you don't break anything either, or touch anything that could possibly be fragile."

Lucy felt strange as she climbed the stairs to her apartment, aware of the eight other people following her. She wasn't even sure if they'd all fit in her tiny apartment. She felt all eyes on her as she fished out the key and unlocked the door, ushering the others inside. She flipped on the lights of the main room, which consisted of a half living area, half dining room and kitchen, broken by the L-shaped counter surrounding the kitchen. A single couch sat in front of a small television made up the living area, with a small coffee table in between. There were two closed doors, which Lucy explained were her bedroom and a combination bathroom and laundry room. A table with two chairs sat in the dining room along with a rack of cookbooks and other helpful books.

Almost immediately, everyone set about looking around. Levy went straight for the books, while Gray, Gajeel and Loke began sorting through her movie selection. Erza and Juvia took to the couch, content to sit and watch. Wendy examined the various decorations on her walla, while Natsu went right to the kitchen. "Don't eat anything without permission!" she called before he was able to raid her fridge.

Natsu frowned in disappointment. "Aw, you're no fun," he accused, and pouted before turning to the counter.

Lucy kept a close eye on her friends to make sure they didn't break anything, and was feeling pretty good about their visit until he heard Natsu call out to her. "Hey Luce, what's this photo?" he asked, picking up a picture frame from the kitchen counter.

Lucy plucked the frame from his hands before he could drop and break it, and glanced down at the photo. Her face went white. Of all the pictures he could have picked up, why this one?

The photo depicted a young Lucy, perhaps four or five years old, and behind her, her father, Jude. A woman who looked nearly identical to Lucy stood with her hands on Lucy's shoulders, a pretty smile on her face. "Those are my parents," she said finally.

Natsu frowned. "Oh, I see," he murmured. He was probably the only of the guys who knew about her mother. Lucy frowned thoughtfully, wondering why she told him these things. She turned quickly, hiding her face from Natsu, and headed to her bedroom. She sighed as she placed the photo on her bedside table.

She rubbed her thumb over the picture frame, a longing look in her eyes. She wished so badly that she could go back to when her parents were alive, to when her mother was healthy and her father was happy. Back to when she was loved. Her expression hardened at the thought. Love only brought heartache, and she had enough experience to know that.

Lucy was startled from her thoughts by Natsu's hand on her shoulder. She hadn't expected the salmon-haired boy to follow her. "Lucy, please talk to me," he murmured. "I can tell you're unhappy."

Lucy sighed, blinking back the tears in her eyes. "I'm alright," she insisted. "I'm just... sad." she glanced at the picture again.

Natsu took a deep breath. "Did Dan hurt you?" he asked suddenly. He looked down, his onyx gray eyes meeting her chocolate brown ones. His expression fended off lying.

Lucy's head snapped up, shock plain on her face. "How did you-"

"You and Dan dated for two years," Natsu cut off. "It was hard not to notice." he paused before speaking again. "Did he hurt you?" he repeated.

Lucy stared at Natsu for a long moment, confused. "No, Dan never hurt me. He was a gentleman," she answered.

"Did he hurt you?" Natsu repeated for a third time. It took Lucy a minute to realize that she couldn't lie to him. She felt tears threatening to spill again, and tore her gaze from Natsu's. She gave a small nod as an answer.

Natsu clenched his teeth. "That's why you were so unhappy around him," he said flatly. "He doesn't deserve you."

"Natsu," Lucy began, in a pleading tone, but Natsu raised his hand to fend off her argument.

"Stop hiding from me, Lucy," he murmured. "I care about you, and so does everyone else."

Lucy looked away. "Everyone I ever cared about has either betrayed me or died," she said, a blatant hardness to her voice that made Natsu's heart ache. "Don't bother with me."

Natsu stared helplessly at Lucy. "You know that's not true. Levy cares about you, and she's still here."

Lucy flinched at his words. She didn't have to say anything to get her point across. Natsu clenched his teeth in firm resolve. "Lucy, look at me."

For a moment Natsu was afraid she had just ignored him, but Lucy slowly turned and reluctantly met his eyes. Natsu reached up and touched Lucy's cheek gently, brushing away a tear that had found its way down. "I don't want you to ever feel like someone loving you makes them dangerous," he said softly. "I'm not dangerous. I'd never hurt you, and you know that, right?"

Lucy stared back at me, an expression Natsu couldn't explain on her face. "What are you saying...?" she whispered, her eyes going back and forth between his.

Natsu took a deep breath. "What I'm saying is that... I love you." Before Lucy had time to react to his sudden confession, Natsu's lips were on hers. His left hand remained cupping her cheek, his right moving to her waist. Lucy's eyes widened in surprise, her heart beating a mile a minute. For about ten seconds, Lucy was frozen, her body rigid. Then, it was like something exploded inside her, every muscle screaming at her. She pushed Natsu away, hard, gasping and clutching the spot over her heart. Her eyes were wide, and in his dazed state, Natsu noticed the fear in her eyes. His heart clenched painfully. "Lucy, I'm sorry-"

"Stop!" Lucy said quickly, her voice shaking. Tears pooled in the corners of her eyes. "Don't say anything. I can't take it." She sat down on her bed, running a hand through her hair.

Natsu stared at her dejectedly. There was nothing he could say to help her. "I'm sorry," he repeated softly. "I'll go." He turned and forced himself go calm down a bit before walking out of the bedroom and into the main room. "Alright guys, time to go," he said, forcing his usual cheer into his voice. "Lucy's not feeling well, so we should leave her alone for now." he started to usher his friends out the door.

"Wait, can I check on Lucy?" Levy protested as Natsu pushed her towards the door. "If she's sick, someone should take care of her."

"You can come back later," Natsu said quickly. "Out you go. Go get your seats."

That seemed to spur everyone into movement. Natsu started to walk towards the truck, but Levy pulled him aside, glancing up at him.

Natsu didn't look up from his hands as Levy gazed up at him. It was pointless to lie to her, she was like a walking lie detector. Lucy's not sick, is she?" Levy asked. "What really happened?"

Natsu bit his lip. "I did something stupid, and now she'll hate me forever," he answered, lacing his fingers through his hair and resting his palm on his forehead.

Levy frowned. "What did you say to her?" she demanded.

Natsu was extremely reluctant to answer, but Levy had a right to know. "I... confessed. To Lucy," he said finally. "But..." he trailed off.

Levy stared at Natsu in shock. She never would have guessed that Natsu had romantic feelings for her best friend. The realization of what just happened hit her hard all of a sudden. "She rejected you," she whispered. "Oh, Natsu..."

Natsu just nodded and let out a long breath. "It can't be helped," he sighed. "Obviously she's still strung up on Dan."

Levy clenched her teeth. She wanted to punch Natsu so hard right now, but all she could do was cry. "You idiot!" she cried. "Lucy's not strung up. She's afraid of love. Her mother died, her dad neglected her for years and them died, and on top of that, the man she was in love with abused her and shattered her heart!"

Natsu's head snapped up. "Abuse?" he repeated. "No, Lucy told me he was a gentleman."

That just made Levy cry harder. "She was protecting your feelings!" she cried. "Dan hit Lucy. A lot. Every day there were new bruises. She was convinced it was her fault. She was so deeply in love that she couldn't see past the good side of him to what he was doing to her." she sobbed silently, tears rolling down her face. "Dan was always drunk when they were alone. He blamed her for his problems. But Lucy was convinced that he still loved her, that in a month he would become his normal self again." Levy paused, sniffing. "She didn't know that the real him was a ruse. She didn't know that what she was seeing was the real Dan."

Natsu stared at Levy, an expression of utter horror and disbelief on his face. He clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles whitened, his bandaged hand protesting painfully. He brushed away the tears that threatened him. Men didn't cry. "I'll kill him," he muttered. "I'll murder Dan."

"Please don't do anything!" Levy pleaded. "You need to understand! Lucy still loves Dan, but she's afraid of being with him. She's afraid of being with anyone. If you told Dan about any of this, he'd hit her. He'd blame her, and she'd blame herself. I can't bear to see Lucy in so much pain again!" Levy fell to her knees and sobbed, clinging to the hem of Natsu's shirt. "Please..."

Natsu stared down at the girl in front of him. He didn't like seeing Levy like this, at all. Where was her smile, her cheeriness and teasing nature? He took Levy's arm and gently pulled her back to her feet. "I'm sorry, Levy. I promise I won't get involved. I won't let anyone hurt Lucy, ever again." he felt a firm resolve growing in him, a strong desire. "I'll protect Lucy."

Levy smiled, although tears still streamed down her face. "I trust you, Natsu," she whispered. "I think you could be the one to mend Lucy's broken heart."

Natsu smiled softly at the blue-haired girl. "We should go, the others are waiting," he said. "We can come back and visit Lucy later."

Levy nodded. "Thank you," she murmured. "For watching over Lucy. Sometimes even I can't get through to her."

Natsu ruffled Levy's hair affectionately. "Don't worry, I won't let Dan hurt Lucy anymore," he promised passionately. He glanced at the horizon, so small yet so diverse. _Lucy, can you hear me?_ he called in his mind. _I love you, and I'll protect you, so don't worry anymore._


	12. Slumps and Confrontations

**Super short chapter today. I'm sorry, but I had such a lack of inspiration. Spring Break is making me lazy D; There is some nice stuff in here though, so hopefully that makes up for the short chapter? I guess I'll find out. Thanks to all of you who reviewed/followed/favorited this! I really appreciate your support! Next update is for Seeker of the Blue Keys!**

**JuliannaCherries: Before I say anything, I love to see your reviews! 3 They make me smile! Yes, Dan is a horrible person in this fanfic. But he's supposed to be crazy, right? xD**

* * *

The next day, Lucy went out of her way to avoid Natsu. News spread like wildfire, and by the end of second period everyone knew that playboy Natsu Dragneel confessed to bookworm Lucy Heartfilia, and had been rejected. It was a nightmare come true for Lucy. She sulked all through the first half of her day until her fifth period lunch, where she walked past her usual spot at the lunch table and sat at the very end, next to the new girl, Cana, putting at much distance between her and the salmon-haired boy as she could. Levy had filled in the girls on what happened, and they all stared at Lucy sympathetically as she poked at her lunch.

Lucy looked up from her lunch and arched an eyebrow at her friends. "Would you mind not staring at me?" she asked.

"Lucy, we're so sorry," Wendy began. "We-"

Lucy cut Wendy off by slamming her hands down on the table, making her plastic silverware clatter noisily. "I don't want your pity!" she snapped, startling her friends.

Cana sighed. "Why does it matter if some guy thought you were hot?" she asked. "I don't see what the big deal is."

"Cana!" Levy interrupted before her friend could say anything stupid. "You're not helping!" she paused, then seemed to reconsider her words. "Well, Cana does have a bit of a point," she reasoned. "Lu, why are you so upset? Just because of Natsu…" she trailed off, unsure of how to word her worries.

Lucy sighed and set down her fork, brushing her bangs from her face. "It's not Natsu or Dan that I'm so worried about," she answered. "It's… something else."

"What else?" Erza prompted.

"You can tell us," Juvia added. "We can keep a secret."

Lucy took a deep breath. "Well, when Natsu kissed me," she began, and her face flushed red. "Well, I kind of… liked it, a little." she finished, her voice lowering to a mumble.

When Lucy lifted her head and saw Levy's face, she wished she hadn't said anything. Her friend looked absolutely elated, her eyes sparkling and a huge, stupid smile on her face. "Oh my gosh, that's wonderful!" she exclaimed. Lucy blushed harder and covered Levy's mouth with one hand before she could blurt out something she would regret later. Levy flashed her an apologetic glance and Lucy removed her hand. "But if you're in love with Natsu, you should totally hook up! He already confessed."

Lucy lowered her eyes to her hands, clasped on the table in front of her. "I'm not ready," she said softly. "I'm just not ready for another relationship. Not after what happened with Dan."

"Natsu isn't Dan," Levy insisted. "He promised he would protect you. He told me that to my face, and it's pretty hard to lie to me." she gave a self-satisfied smile, but Lucy still looked unsure. She frowned at her hands.

"I know," Lucy said immediately. "I know they're different. Dan was quirky and conceited, and he barely said a kind word to me when we were alone. Natsu's sweet and kind, and I know he wouldn't hurt me intentionally, but… I'm just not ready."

Levy sighed. Her impatience was starting to show, but she forced it down and took Lucy's hand, squeezing it reassuringly. "I understand," she murmured. "I'll cheer silently, from the sidelines." she gave Lucy a crooked smile.

Lucy managed a small smile in return. "Why don't you focus on you and Gajeel's relationship while you're waiting?" she suggested, and chuckled when Levy's face went red.

"I'll do that," Levy replied quickly, and stood up to dispose of her lunch. Lucy smiled and shook her head at her best friend's antics. She glanced up at the rest of the girls, her expression turning serious. "I swear, if any of you tell any of the guys about this," she began threateningly. Needless to say, everyone promised to keep their mouths shut.

* * *

Lunch went by quickly for Lucy after that. She forced herself to put Natsu out of her mind and was able to enjoy herself like usual with her friends. When the bell rang the end of lunch in, Lucy stood up and tossed her trash in the trash cans, smoothing her hands down her skirt before starting to walk to class. She frowned; Health was her next class, and that meant she would have to sit next to Natsu. She groaned to herself and considered faking illness so she could go to the nurse's office and not have to see Natsu, but she knew she couldn't avoid him forever. She walked into her class and took her seat next to Natsu, who had beaten her there and was working on a Health warm-up.

Natsu glanced up at Lucy as she entered and tore the corner off of a piece of scrap paper before scribbling on it and pushing it to her side of the table. Lucy cast a wary glance at it, her eyes scanning over the words written on it. 'Meet me after school.'

Lucy knew it was hopeless to avoid confrontation with Natsu. She waited at the edge of the common area of the school, fidgeting in her chair. She tugged restlessly on the hem of her skirt, looking down at her lap uneasily. She was really hoping Natsu would forget all about this meeting, even though she knew her hopes were in vain. She pulled out her phone and checked the time. It was over twenty minutes since school was officially finished and the commons were nearly empty.

Lucy was seriously considering just leaving and walking home when she spotted the familiar flash of salmon-colored hair approaching her. She gulped and stood up to meet him, shifting on her feet.

"Hey," Natsu greeted softly. Lucy could tell this was awkward for him as well, and lowered her head, pretending to be interested in her shoes.

"Hey," she returned halfheartedly, fingering the seam of her right shirt sleeve. "What did you want to talk about?"

Natsu was silent for a moment, then he sighed, running a hand through his hair. "You know what," he answered. "Look, Lucy, about what happened at your apartment-"

"Stop," Lucy interrupted, squeezing her eyes shut. "I remember what happened. I don't... don't want to talk about it." she was trying hard to keep the emotion out of her voice.

Natsu set his jaw and grasped both of Lucy's shoulders firmly, startling her. She looked up at him in surprise. Natsu bit his lip. "You can't pretend it never happened," he insisted. "The truth of the matter is that it did. I confessed to you, I kissed you, and you pushed me away. I understand why." he paused, his eyes flicking to the side before returning to Lucy's. "What I don't understand is why you insist on ignoring me now."

Lucy's lip quivered, and she lowered her gaze once more, brushing a tear from her eye before it could run. "I can't fall in love anymore," she answered in a near-whisper. Her voice trembled as she spoke, and it made Natsu's heart ache. "I just can't."

"Why not?" Natsu pressed. "Why can't you fall in love with me?" His hands squeezed her shoulders harder.

Lucy looked up at Natsu. "I don't think-"

"Answer my question!"

Lucy flinched at Natsu's sudden anger, and it took the salmon-haired boy a moment to realize what he was doing. His angry gaze softened and he let go of Lucy's shoulders, his hands hovering in front of him. "I'm sorry," he whispered, his gaze lowering. After a moment, he raised his eyes again and met Lucy's. "I really do love you, Luce," he said. "Can't you give me a chance?" he looked down at Lucy, his eyes pleading with her.

Lucy held his gaze for a moment, then she felt the emotion rise up in her again. She turned away from him, closing her eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I'm sorry," she choked out. "I just can't." Then she turned and ran. She could hear Natsu calling her name, begging her to come back, but she ignored it.

She ran, and ran, and didn't stop until she reached her house. She fumbled with her house key and unlocked the door, running upstairs and ignoring the worried calls of the housekeepers and maids she knew so well. She went to her room and locked the door behind her, collapsing onto her bed.

Lucy stared at the ceiling, forcing back the tears that threatened to spill. She hadn't cried like this since her mother died, not even when Dan dumped her. Automatically, she reached under the covers of her bed and pulled out a stuffed animal, her most important possession. It had been a gift from her mother when she was a child, and she had clung to it ever since. It was almost like a snowman, white and round with black glass eyes and a carrot nose. She called him Plue.

"Plue, what am I going to do?" she asked the animal helplessly. Of course there was no answer, Plue was a toy, after all. "Maybe I could run away," she continued to herself. "I'm sixteen, perfectly capable of living by myself."

"I don't think that's legal." Lucy's head snapped up in surprise and she saw Levy standing by her bed, smiling sadly at her.

Lucy wiped her eyes quickly. "What are you doing here?" she asked in a near-whisper. She sat up, still hugging Plue, and Levy sat down on the bed next to her.

"Natsu texted me. He said you might be upset and asked me to talk to you," she replied, tucking a loose strand of sky blue hair into her headband. "What happened?"

Lucy pressed her lips together, staring down at the stuffed animal in her arms. "Natsu wants to get together," she said after a moment of silence.

Levy glanced down at Lucy, her eyebrows furrowing. "Lucy, what's so wrong about that? You could use a boyfriend, someone to take your mind off if you-know-who."

Lucy sighed and ran her hands down her face. "I like Natsu. A lot. I really do, but... I'm just not ready for a relationship. It will only cause problems."

Levy narrowed her eyes. "Problems for Natsu, or problems for you?" she demanded. "If Dan is still a problem, then tell him how you really feel about him. Let him know that you won't let him push you around anymore!"

Lucy turned away. "You know I can't do that," she answered helplessly. "Dan is stronger than I am, me tally and physically. I don't have the will to stand up to him."

Levy opened her mouth to argue, then shut it again and sighed. "Alright, then," she murmured. "I'll support whatever decision you decide to make."

Lucy gave a half-smile to her friend. "Thanks," she replied gratefully, but there was a flicker of doubt in her that continued to grow, and Lucy was afraid that it might envelope her completely.


	13. Standing Up and Realizations

**So many Lucy haters in the reviews O_O I've been so mean to poor Lucy and Natsu! xD hang in there guys, I promise it won't last forever! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, you guys are awesome! Also people who followed/favorited! I think you guys will enjoy this chapter. I had fun making it! So much Nalu 3**

**JuliannaCherries: You're right, Natsu and Levy are being reasonable and Lucy is just not xD But that was always the plan. Thanks for reviewing!**

**Sierra (Guest): Thanks for reviewing!**

**Angelic Shadow123: Not just once? That's a little harsh xD**

**nico2883: Interesting suggestion, but I don't think that's going to happen. I'm almost to the end of the story, I think.**

** anahita. tabrizicheeseninja: Thanks for reviewing!**

* * *

Lucy clenched her fists and gritted her teeth as she walked down the hallways towards where she knew he would be waiting like he did every morning. She was determined to confront Dan today, even if she had to do it alone. She was tired of being afraid, tired of her life revolving around others. It wasn't just Dan before, back before she moved out, it was her father.

Lucy took deep breaths to still her nerves, forcing her hands to stop shaking as she walked down the familiar halls of the school. She bit her lip, turning a corner. Immediately she saw him, leaned against the wall not ten feet away, his scarlet hair ruffled and falling into his eyes. He was making conversation with a boy Lucy didn't recognize, and he looked up as she approached. He murmured something to the boy that Lucy couldn't hear and the boy turned and left.

Lucy was feeling extra nervous as she approached Dan, who watched her closely as she approached. He gave her a small smile as she neared him, but she didn't smile back.

"Good morning, Lucy," Dan greeted. "What can I do for you today?" there was an obvious tone to his voice that suggested he didn't want to speak with Lucy.

Lucy shifted on her feet. "Can I talk to you in private?" she asked, jerking her head to a hall that was almost always empty this time of day.

Dan nodded wordlessly and followed Lucy to the hall, which ended in a dead end. He glanced at her curiously. "What do you need to talk about?" he asked. "Have you changed your mind about taking me back?" his voice took on a mocking edge and he grinned, not bothering to wear a nice-giy mask while around Lucy. "It's 'bout time you came around."

"That's not it," Lucy replied immediately. "I came to tell you something important." she paused, taking a shaky breath, and mustered up her bravery. She closed her eyes tight. "I won't put up with you anymore!" she blurted out.

Dan's grin disappeared and he frowned, a confused expression on his face. "What are you talking about?" he asked innocently. It made Lucy's blood boil to hear him say something like that to her. Surely he knew what he'd done to her?

Lucy bit her lip and swallowed. "I'm not going to let you run my life anymore," she said. "I'm done being afraid of you! I won't let you push me around anymore!"

Dan blinked at Lucy, somewhat stunned at her reaction. She hadn't expected the blonde to stand up to him. He grinned slightly. "So, you've fallen in love with him?" he guessed, though it seemed fairly obvious to him. He's seen Lucy sulking around, and he had sources to tell him what he wanted to know. "That pink-headed delinquent? You certainly hang around him enough."

Lucy stared at Dan, a mix of confusion and disbelief on her face. She pressed her lips together. "You could say I had a burst of courage," she answered. "I'm not the same girl you abused for two years. I'm stronger now, and I won't let you take advantage of me any longer." she straightened up, feeling an odd strength in herself, her shoulders squaring and her back straightening so she rose to her full height. She was still shorter than Dan by a wide margin, but he had to admit she looked more intimidating.

Dan scowled, clenching his fists. "You might want to watch what you say around me, Princess," he threatened, glaring down at Lucy.

"I'm not afraid of you," Lucy replied in a near-whisper, glaring right back. Dan clenched his teeth together, anger forming a knot in his stomach. He raised a hand and brought it around swiftly in an attempt to strike the blonde, but Lucy stepped back and closed her eyes tight, Acting on instinct, she reached out with both hands and caught Dan's wrist before he could touch her, feeling her arms shake with the impact. she peeked out of one eye and sighed in relief.

Dan smirked, letting his hand fall to his side once more. "You're still a coward," he taunted. "You can't face me with your eyes open, and you have to hide behind someone else for protection!"

"Do you see me hiding?" Lucy retorted. "Do you see anyone here acting as my backup, or talking for me? You're the coward, Dan." Lucy took a step forward, jabbing a finger into his chest. "You're the low coward who would hit a woman just to feel better about yourself! You're the coward that would drown his sorrows instead of facing them like a real man would!" Dan was taken aback by her assertiveness, as Lucy was usually quite tentative around him.

Dan quickly got over his surprise, his scowl returning. "So that's how it is, huh?" he murmured. "Fine then. I don't need you. Go run to your delinquent boyfriend and don't look back.

"He's not a delinquent, and he's not my boyfriend," Lucy replied, slightly annoyed at Dan's teasing tone. "But I will go back to him, because he's a far better guy than you'll ever be!" and with that, she turned, her blond hair whipping around as she turned her back on the boy she used to love. "Goodbye Dan." then she left. She half expected for Dan to follow her, to beat her and abuse her like he used too, but he didn't, just watched her with a stone-cold expression that gave nothing away. Then he shook his head and walked in the other direction.'

Lucy waited until she was safely out of sight around the corner before she collapsed against the wall. Her heart was beating so hard she thought it might burst, and her breathing was harsh and quick. She hugged her knees to her chest and sat in silence for a long moment before she began to giggle, the light sound escaping her lips against her will.

"There you are, Lucy!" Lucy glanced up to see Levy running towards her, a bright smile on her face. Gajeel was with her as well, his usual disapproving frown on his face, but he gave a grin as he approached the girl curled up against the wall. "What are you doing down there?"

Lucy stood up suddenly and wrapped her arms around Levy's neck, tears reaching her eyes. "I did it, Levy, I finally did it," she murmured, feeling her chest swell with happiness.

Levy was quiet for a moment, then her eyes widened and she stepped back from Lucy. "You mean you talk to Dan?" she cried, her excitement showing clearly in her voice. Lucy nodded and Levy wrapped Lucy in a hug once more, squealing excitedly. "That's so great!" she cried after she had released Lucy once more, then she said in a more serious tone, "so what are you going to do about Natsu? You know he still likes you. You should give him a chance."

Lucy took a moment to answer. She still felt reluctant about the matter, but she also felt more courageous, ready to take on what life threw at her. "Yeah, I think I will," she answered, eliciting another excited scream from her friend.

"Took you long enough!" Levy cried, and grabbed her friend's wrist, completely ignoring the fact that her boyfriend was still there. "Come on, let's go find him!"

"Woah!" Lucy stumbled a few steps before grabbing Levy's shoulder and forcing her to stop. "Slow down! I think that's a bit quick, don't you?" Levy pouted at Lucy, who giggled at her friend, amused. "I promise I'll talk to him, but at the right moment, away from prying eyes." she gave Levy a warning glance, fending off any plans the bluenette might have to spy on her.

Levy sighed, frowning, then gave her friend a small smile. "All right, I'll be patient, but I want the details as soon as it happens!" she said, winking at Lucy.

Lucy grinned at her friend and rolled her eyes playfully. "Alright, I will," she said, following Levy down the hall. A bright smile was plastered on her face.

* * *

The rest of the day passed in a blissful haze for Lucy. She felt lighter, like a burden had been lifted off her shoulders. She was happier and talked more, and everyone could see the change in her, especially Natsu.

Lucy took a different path home that afternoon after school, going the long way so she could enjoy some quiet time. She hummed a happy tune to herself as she walked down the sidewalk, past the park where she could see children playing playing. She smiled and continued down the sidewalk, only to pause when a flash of pink caught her eye. She paused and looked back at the park, surprised to see Natsu standing near the play structure, smiling at the children. Lucy giggled and began to walk towards him.

Lucy snuck up behind Natsu and covered his eyes with her hands. "Guess who?" she said, smiling mischievously.

Natsu grinned and tapped his chin with one finger. "Is it... Erza?" he guessed.

"Do I sound like Erza to you?" Lucy answered his question with another question.

"Fair point," Natsu said. He hummed to himself. "Lisanna?"

Lucy giggled. "Try again."

Natsu thought for a moment more. "Lucy?" he guessed finally. Lucy removed her hands from his eyes. "Correct!" she said, and smiled as Natsu turned to face her.

Natsu grinned down at Lucy. "What's up?" he asked. The two of them had gotten along pretty well since they had decided to stay friends. "You seem happy. In fact, you were pretty happy all day."

Lucy nodded. "I was on my way home and spotted you. You didn't strike me as a kid person." she gestured to the playground.

Natsu glanced at her in surprise. "Really? I love kids!" he answered. "I'm watching Bisca-sensei's daughter for her while she runs an errand quickly."

Lucy looked skeptical. "Bisca-sensei trusted you with her daughter?" she echoed.

Natsu crossed his arms. "Hey, I resent that!" he said with a pout. "I can be responsible. Besides, it's only for a little while."

Lucy ran a hand through her pretty golden hair, ruffling it. "Well, anyway," she glanced down. "I wanted to talk to you about something."

Natsu leaned against one of the metal supports of the play structure. "Shoot," he answered casually, waiting for her.

Lucy blushed slightly and averted Natsu's eyes. How do you word something like this? "Well, I was thinking about what you said last time you were at my apartment," she began, and looked up to see the expression on Natsu's face darken. He obviously didn't want to remember that day. "And I was wondering, you know, if you're free, if you'd like to go with me... on a date." she felt more heat flush her cheeks and she was sure her face was crimson.

Natsu blinked in surprise, then a smile cracked on his face and he started to laugh. "What's so funny?" Lucy demanded, frowning, and Natsu forced himself to calm down a little bit. "You're asking me out on a date?" he clarified. "I always thought it would be the other way around."

Lucy blushed and shoved Natsu, pouting at him. "Is that a problem?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "I thought you wanted to go out with me? Maybe I was wrong." she turned and started to leave, and Natsu's grin disappeared.

"Wait, Luce!" he yelled, running after her. He caught her shoulder and turned her around to face him. There was a mischievous smile on her face. Natsu looked confused for a moment before realization dawned on him. "You sneaky-"

Lucy started to laugh, holding her stomach. "That was perfect!" she cried between fits of giggles.

Natsu rolled his eyes. "Very funny," he muttered. "Now then, if we're officially going out, does that give me the right to kiss you?" he asked, a humorous glint in his eye.

Lucy smiled. "I suppose it does," she answered. Natsu didn't need a formal invitation. He cupped Lucy's cheek, bringing her face up, and captured her lips with his. Lucy closed her eyes, letting herself feel his kiss. Her heart fluttered and made her feel light, and she smiled against Natsu's lips. Natsu pulled his head back, running his hand once through Lucy's hair. "I love you," he murmured.

Lucy giggled, brushing her bangs from her eyes. "I love you too."


	14. Mysteries and Dinner Dates

**Oh my gosh, you guys' reviews on this last chapter of this story were so great. I love you guys! It's reviews like yours that inspire me to keep writing! I hope you guys are satisfied by this new chapter! It's more of a filler chapter, with some humor in it. Please review and tell me what you think! Thanks to everyone who reviewed/followed/favorited! You guys rock.**

**London Maeve-LilibethM: This story was inspired by BlackLynx17's Mythical Creatures, but I assure you it's nothing like it.**

**xXxSatasixXx: oh my gosh, thank you soooo much for your wonderful review! I especially love writing for Levy, she has a unique side of her personality when I write for her, and I always figured she'd turn into a matchmaker after getting a boyfriend. Nope, there's still a few chapters left before this story is finished, Iim aiming for 20 chapters. I do wish I got more reviews for my stories sometimes, but some is better than none, right? ;D Again, thanks so much for reviewing, I hope you continue to support my stories!**

**purplekittyfans465: Thanks for your kind review! I'm glad you like it!**

**RockingCass12: Haha, yup c: Thanks for reviewing!**

**JuliannaCherries: Yes, it was a little rushed, but I felt like I'd waited long enough. I wanted it to happen xP**

* * *

Lucy sighed and collapsed on her bed, a smile on her face. Natsu had taken her out to lunch after Bisca came to pick up her daughter, and it was one of the most fun nights she'd had in a long time. Natsu liked her, she was finally over Dan, her life was finally starting to look up. Except for one thing that was still bothering her; the two boys still in the hospital. Sting and Rogue had made a substantial recovery and would be let out of the hospital any day now, but the police still weren't any closer to finding out who was after them. As far as they knew, Sting and Rogue had no enemies.

Lucy frowned as she thought it over. Why would anyone want to hurt them? Sting and Rogue were both nice guys, if you get over the fact that Rogue doesn't say much, and as far as she could tell there wasn't a reason to want them hospitalized. She sighed and ruffled her hair lightly, removing her ponytail. It was only two in the afternoon, but she already felt like sleeping. She sat up and texted Levy and Erza, hoping the two of them could hang out today.

_"That's fine with me."_ Levy's reply came quickly. Lucy guessed she was at home, watching television. If she was anywhere near a book it would be hours before her reply came.

Erza took longer to reply. "_Yeah, I can come,"_ she wrote. "_I'm at the grocery story right now, but I'll be done soon."_ Lucy smiled; Erza's parents were always making her run out to buy things. Mr. and Mrs. Scarlet were like second parents to Lucy, though, so she could understand their antics a little.

_"Alright, meet me at Love&Lucky later?"_ Lucy wrote to both her friends. "_We can have dinner, say five?"_

Love&Lucky was was Lucy's favorite diner. It was a little old and run-down, but the food there was great, and her cousin worked there, someone she didn't get to see very often because of her school and family life. She was pretty sure Michelle was working today.

Everyone seemed to be in agreement concerning having dinner together. Erza was the one who had to weasle out of "pasta night" at her parents', but somehow she managed to get her eccentric family to let her take a night off after convincing them it was a meeting with the MA club. That would be true if Levy wasn't coming, but Lucy wasn't about to scold her.

Lucy glanced at her clock. It was 2:30, meaning she still had two and a half hours until she was supposed to meet Levy and Erza at Love&Lucky. She sighed and opened a small notebook, tearing out a page of lined paper and grabbing a pencil from a jar of assorted writing utensils, dating the paper with today's date. After pausing for a moment, she began to write.

_Dear Mom,_

_I'm sorry I haven't written for a long time, I've been busy with school and with my novel. How long has it been? Lots of things have happened since I last wrote you. Dad passed away. I hope he's with you now. I bet he's happy. Levy and Erza are doing well. Erza starting dating one of my friends, Jellal, and Levy and Gajeel are still going strong. I have a boyfriend now, too. His name is Natsu Dragneel. He was in my first grade class, but we never really talked much. I guess his friends sort of became mine when Levy and Gajeel started dating. Gray and Juvia too. I made a lot of new friends, and I'm doing pretty well right now. I hope you can see my smiling from Heaven. I love you._

_Signed, Lucy_

Lucy smiled faintly at the piece of paper and folded it, slipping the paper into an envelope and sealing it with a colorful sticker. She stood up and walked over to her desk, opening the very bottom drawer and putting it inside, along with a lot of similar-looking envelopes. How many months did these letters cover? They were like a private diary, listing many of Lucy's important memories since her mother's death. Lucy sighed and closed the drawer once more, feeling content. It always made her feel good to write to her mother.

With nothing else to do, Lucy walked out of her bedroom and into the living space of her apartment. She plopped down on her coach and reached for her book, pausing when she spotted a flash of light in the corner of her eye. Glancing to the side, she noticed the sun reflecting off of a photo frame, making her squint against the blinding light. She reached out and turned the frame so the light wouldn't be in her face, and her breath hitched when she saw the photo. It was the one of her family, before her mother's death, the one Natsu had picked up not last week. Her gaze softened as she stared longingly at the photo, wishing she could have those days back. She rubbed her thumb over the glass of the frame's cover and then reached for her book again, a smile on her face.

* * *

Lucy hummed a quiet tune to herself as she walked down the streets of Magnolia towards the Love&Lucky diner where she wa supposed to meet Levy and Erza. She had left a little early, but she knew her friends would be late anyway. She smiled as she thought of her friends' tendency to be late for everything. Especially Erza, who took her time and brought her entire room with her in a huge purse. Why she needed to bring a flashlight with her to a diner, Lucy would never understand.

Lucy went into the diner and claimed a booth at the back corner of the diner, sliding to the wall seat and settling down. Levy came in not long after her and took the booth seat across from Lucy. "Hey, Lucy," she greeted. "Erza coming?"

"She's on her way," Lucy answered, tucking her phone into her pocket. "She'll be a few minutes. You know Erza." she rolled her eyes with an amused grin on her face.

Levy giggled. "What she needs is a calendar. Or to use the reminders on her cell phone," she added.

The two chatted together, reviewing their favorite books and just hanging out, for a few minutes before Erza finally showed up, carrying a rather large tote with her.

"Erza, why do you always bring so much stuff with you?" Levy asked as the redhead sat down in the booth beside her. "We're not going on vacation, we're just hanging out for an hour or two."

Erza set her bag on the ground next to her, and Lucy was led to wonder how on earth she could carry such a heavy-looking bag with her everywhere. "There's no such thing as being overly-prepared," she stated matter-of-factly. "I'll never be without something I need because it will be with me." she smiled and tapped her fingers on the table. "Now then, shall we eat?"

Lucy chuckled lightly at Erza's formal style of speaking; in a way, she sounded like a school teacher giving a lecture to her unruly students. "Levy and I already ordered," she said. "You were taking too long."

"Sorry, Erza," Levy apologized meekly.

Erza sighed. "Alright, that's fine," she said dismissively, and called a waiter over. "Waiter! I'd like to order!"

Lucy sweatdropped. So forceful… she glanced up to see who the poor waitress was who would have to serve Erza, her face lighting up when she noticed the girl's familiar honey-golden curls. "Michelle!" she exclaimed happily.

Michelle blinked and glanced at Lucy. "Lucy!" she replied cheerfully, smiling. "Are you here with your friends?"

Lucy nodded. "Yes, my friend Erza just got here. Can you take her order for her?" she asked, redirecting her cousin's attention towards her job. Michelle could be so easily distracted sometimes.

Michelle nodded and raised a pen to her notepad. "What can I get you?" she asked, turning to Erza, who was watching her intently.

"Strawberry cake for me," she said. "And some water."

"Erza, shouldn't you be eating a meal, not dessert?" Levy pointed out. Erza just shrugged and Michelle left with a 'be right back', disappearing into the kitchen.

With Michelle gone, Levy turned to Lucy. "So, how are things with Natsu?" she asked slyly, a knowing look in her eye. "Have you talked to him yet?"

Lucy's face tinted pink at her words. "Well, actually, I did talk to him," she replied.

Levy's eyes lit up. "Oh my gosh, you did?!" she cried. Lucy's eyes widened and she covered her friend's mouth quickly, pushing her back into her seat. "Quiet down!" she reprimanded. "The last thing I want is for the whole place to know I talked to Natsu Dragneel."

Levy gave Lucy an apologetic look and Lucy sighed, sitting back down in her own seat. Levy had a grin on her face and her eyes sparkled with anticipation. "So, what happened? Details please!" she said in a softer voice.

Lucy rolled her eyes, but there was an amused smile on her face. "I saw Natsu at the park and talked to him. I told him I had stood up to Dan, we made up, and now… we're dating," she said quickly. She didn't mention the kiss, to afraid of how Levy might react.

Erza, who had thus far been silent, rested her elbows on the table. "It's about time," she said seriously. "Natsu's been trying to get your attention since school started."

Sometimes Lucy wished her friends wouldn't ask her so many questions. Levy's eyes seemed to go right through her and a teasing glint appeared in her eyes. "Was there a kiss?" she asked, leaning forward on her elbows eagerly. Lucy didn't answer, but she knew her face was bright red. Levy noticed it too. "Oh, there was, there definitely was!" she squealed excitedly.

"I-It was just a kiss," Lucy stuttered, her face turning a shade of red that rivaled Erza's hair. "Anyway, it's no big deal. You and Gajeel kiss all the time."

Levy winked at Lucy. "Ah, but that's because we've been going steady for a while now," she pointed out. "But this is a big step for you, my dear!" I dreamy look came over her face and Levy sighed contentedly. "I hear wedding bells…"

"That's enough!" Lucy interrupted. "Don't get ahead of yourself! We went on one date, that doesn't mean we're doing to get married! It just means that we're going to try and see what happens." she crossed her arms defensively.

Levy snapped back into reality and pouted. "Come on, Lu, let me have my moment," she said, then her gaze returned to a friendly one. "But still, you and Natsu are just so… compatible! How do I even explain it? I don't know, you get what I mean!"

_No, I really don't,_ Lucy thought bluntly, confused thoughts swirling in her mind. She sighed and pushed them away, about to say something in reply when Michelle returned holding a tray of food. "Order up," she said with a smile, setting the tray down on the table. "Caesar salad for Lucy, Strawberry cake for Erza, and fettuccine alfredo for Levy."

"Thank you," Erza said as she dug into her cake with a plastic fork. Lucy smiled at Michelle as she took her plate of salad; caesar salad was her favorite, and no one made it better than Love&Lucky.

Levy tucked into her noodles, but it wasn't long before she was talking again. "Now Lucy, about Natsu…"

* * *

Lucy sighed as she sank gratefully into the warm bath, letting her cold toes burn a little as they sunk under the steaming hot water. She felt especially tired after a long day of running around, and her apartment's spacious bathtub was quite inviting when she finally made it home. She also did her best thinking while in the tub. She smiled as she recounted her day. So far it had been pretty good. She'd stood up to Dan, made up with Natsu, went out to dinner with her friends, written a letter to her mom, now there was just one thing on her mind.

Sting and Rogue. Lucy's smile turned into a frown. She couldn't figure out who would want to hurt them. Definitely not any of their friends. No way any of them would want to hurt them.

Lucy shook her head lightly, running a hand through her damp hair. She would worry about Sting and Rogue later. Right now, she just wanted to relax.


End file.
